§ MR. SHEEHAN (Cork County, Mid.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that in the last scheme promoted under the Labourers (Ireland) Acts by the Macroom Rural District Council, Mary Herlihy, Derryroe, electoral division of Kilberrehert, applied for and was granted an additional half acre; will he say whether the order granting the half acre has been recently cancelled; and, if so, will he state the reason therefor, and if it is not still possible to have the half acre for this applicant included in the scheme.
MR. BRYCEThe fact is as stated in the first part of the Question. The Local Government Board informed the Council from the outset that, in view of the state of arrears into which the collection of the rent for labourers' cottages in the district had fallen, they would not be prepared to authorise additional plots in any case in which more than two months' rent was due. Before the Provisional Order was issued, a period of twelve months elapsed, during which the tenants had an opportunity of complying with the Board's requirement; but fifty-three tenants (including Mary Herlihy) failed to comply with that requirement. The plot in question cannot, accordingly, be now authorised except in pursuance of a new scheme.