§ MR. SHEEHANTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Irish Government are prepared to recommend that the provisions of the Bill for the better housing of the working classes, which is to be introduced by the President of the Local Government Board, shall apply to Ireland; whether any steps are being taken to have included, or to suggest for inclusion, in the measure clauses providing for the special conditions which obtain in Ireland; and whether the proposals contained in the Bill introduced by the hon. Member for North Tipperary will be considered in this connection.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The Irish Government are not prepared to recommend the extension of the Housing and Town Planning Bill to Ireland. The provisions of the Bill, while no doubt suitable to English industrial centres of population, would not meet the difficulties which present themselves in dealing with the housing problem in Ireland. Moreover the codes to be amended are not the same in the two countries, and the application of the principles of the English Bill to Ireland would present very great difficulties. I am having a careful examination made of the proposals contained in the Bill introduced by the hon. Member for North Tipperary.