§ CAPTAIN DONELAN (Cork, E.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that labourers in occupation of union cottages in Ireland are debarred from obtaining outdoor relief, even when incapacited by illness; and whether, in view of the suffering which the operation of this system sometimes inflicts upon labourers and their families, stops will be taken to enable boards of guardians to grant outdoor relief to the tenants of union cottages when necessity arises.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) Occupiers of more than a quarter of an acre of land are debarred by statute from. receiving poor law relief otherwise than in the workhouse. Labourers who occupy cottages with allotments come within the j prohibitions. The relieving officer may, however, afford such persons relief in case of sudden and urgent necessity, and the guardians may admit them to the union hospital in cases of illness. The Local Government Board have been advised that the prohibition referred to applies only to the landholder himself, and there-fore the members of such person's family, if sick and destitute, may be afforded outdoor relief. No amendment of the law of relief in favour of labourers is in contemplation.