§ MR. MURPHYI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland what is the cause of the delay in the presentation of the Report of the Poor Law Commission; whether the Report has been ready for publication for some time; and if he can state that it will not be held back until after the close of the Parliamentary session.
MR. BRYCEThe Chairman of the Poor Law Reforms Commission informs me that the delay in the presentation of the Report is due in part to unforeseen difficulties in the preparation of statistics, and in part to the fact that he has had to give a good deal of attention recently to another inquiry in which he is concerned by the direction of the Government. The Report of the Poor Law Reform Commission will, he states, be published long before the close of the Parliamentary session. It is at present almost ready for presentation except for some statistics which have yet to be completed, and these may cause some modification in the recommendations of the Commissioners.
§ MR. BARRIE (Londonderry, N.)Is not the Report already in the hands of the printers?
§ MR. BARRIEWho is responsible for the delay? This is a pressing matter.