§ MR. JOHN ROCHETo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he has received a resolution from the Ballinasloe District Council relative to the building of labourers' cottages, also a table of charges which show that the acquiring of a cottage for a labourer since 1898 cost almost £100 more than it did previous to that date; and whether it is his intention to have the Act so amended as to abolish the extra charges at present made.
(Answered by Mr. Bryce). The resolution has been received. The proposals contained in the Labourers' Bill, which the Government are to introduce, will tend to diminish largely the incidental expenses connected with schemes for 884 labourers' cottages. I may, however, observe that, according to my information both the board of guardians and the rural district council in this case adopted a needlessly expensive course by making a number of schemes (18), each for a very small number of cottages, four of them embracing only one cottage each; and that in other respects they might have acted with a greater regard to economy.