§ MR. J. DEVLINI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been called to the system under which paupers who have not acquired a settlement in any particular union in Great Britain are removed to the union to which they originally belonged; whether he is aware that, under this system, poor persons are removed from English and Scottish unions to the Belfast Workhouse, at the rate of one per week, whereas poor persons in the Belfast Workhouse belonging to other unions cannot be removed at the expense of the rates; whether repeated expressions of opinion as to the injustice of this system have been put on record by the Belfast Guardians, in common with other Irish Poor Law Boards; and whether he will consider 982 the advisability of introducing legislation to remove this burden upon Irish rate payers.
§ MR. BIRRELLI would refer the hon. Member to my Answer to the somewhat similar Question put by the hon. Member for Mid Tyrone on 20th May, when I stated that the subject of the Question will receive the careful consideration of the Irish Government in connection with the proposed Bill for amending the Irish Poor Laws which it is hoped to introduce next year.
CAPTAIN CRAIGDo the Government intend to introduce my Bill dealing with the whole question of Poor Law reform for Ireland?
§ MR. BIRRELLI have no doubt the hon. Member's Bill will afford us much assistance in dealing with the question.