§ MR. SLOANTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been called to the fact that at a recent meeting of the Castlerea Poor Law Board it was decided to erect a labourer's cottage on the six-acre holding of a farmer called Mears; and whether, seeing there are ranches containing several hundreds of acres in the vicinity, what steps, if any, will he take in the matter.
(Answered by Mr. Bryce.) The taking of a site for a labourer's cottage on this holding was authorised by Provisional Order so far back as the 1st August, 1903, the then owner and occupier having agreed to give the site. Subsequently, when the estate of which the holding is part was being sold to the tenants, Mrs. Mears became purchaser of the holding. In the opinion of the Local Government Board it is scarcely probable that Mrs. Mears was not made aware that the district council had been previously authorised to acquire the site; but, in any event, the rights of the district council to take the site cannot now be questioned.