§ MR. O'MALLEYI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether in view of the fact that the people of Connemara are in a chronic state of poverty, he will take steps to grant a portion of the Unemployed Fund for approved works in that district.
§ MR. BIRRELLThe Unemployed Fund can only be granted to properly constituted committees, for the purpose of meeting exceptional distress caused among working-men by want of employment. The Local Government Board have so far received no information which would lead them to anticipate exceptional distress among the small farmers in Connemara, whose resources this year are said to be fully equal to the average. Representations have, however, been made as to the existence of distress among the working-men in the towns of Clifden and Galway, where distress committees are in operation, and these are at present under consideration.