§ MR. CLANCYI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Local Government Board have intimated to the North Dublin Rural District Council that the Treasury will not sanction the advance, under the new Labourers Act, of a greater sum than £180 or £185 to cover the entire cost of cottage and plot; if so, will he say on what authority the Treasury have put a limit on the amount of advances under the Labourers Act; and, in view of the fact that land in the neighbourhood of large centres of population costs much more than elsewhere, and that the cost of building is higher in such places than in the rural districts, if the Treasury intends to adhere to its decision in this matter, if it has given such a decision.
§ MR. BIRRELLThe Local Government Board have not conveyed to the Rural District Council any such intimation as mentioned in the Question. My predecessor stated in this House that he hoped that the four and a quarter millions named in the new Act would provide at least 25,000 cottages. To do this the average cost throughout Ireland should not exceed £170 on all heads. While it is expected that in certain districts cottages can be provided for less than that sum, the Local Government Board have no doubt that in other districts—those in the vicinity of Dublin for instance—the cost may be somewhat higher. In determining the amount per house which may be allowed in such districts the Board will take into consideration the average cost per cottage under the several schemes already carried out in the district. The object of the Board is to secure the erection of the greatest number of cottages possible with the money available, and in their efforts to attain this object they hope to be supported by local authorities and by Irish opinion generally.