§ MR. J. P. FARRELLTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether, with a view to helping poor struggling farmers in Ireland to build decent sanitary dwellings for their families, he would take into consideration a scheme which would enable county councils in Ireland to lend to small farmers, on the security of their holdings, sums not exceeding two-fifths of the assessed value of the interest on their holdings for the purpose of building such houses; whether he is aware that many farmers' houses, especially in congested areas, are quite as miserable and, from a sanitary point of view, uninhabitable as houses occupied by labourers and others; and whether he will consider the advisability of endeavouring to remedy a state of things which is at present a source of disease in many districts in Ireland by providing for the use of county councils money at the 3¼ per cent. rate, and arranging for repayment over a lengthened period.
§ (Answered by Mr. Birrell.) Under the Land Act of 1881 the Board of Works make loans to farmers for works of agricultural improvement, which I believe is interpreted to include farm dwellings. The loan is made on the security of the holding. It is not clear that any benefit would be derived from interposing the county council between the borrowers and the lenders.