MR. C. MACVEIGH (Donegal, E.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether the attention of the Local Government Board has been called to the class of cottages that the No. 2 Division of the Strabane Union, County Tyrone, are trying to force upon the labourers by proposing to build them in blocks of six or nine houses, and none of these on the plots of land selected by the committee of the district council; whether he is aware that labourers refuse to take these cottages on account of their general inconvenience and the difficulty of getting to the place they propose to build them, and that the sanitary arrangements will interfere with the domestic water supply; and whether he will take immediate steps to have inquiry made into the whole matter before the ratepayers' money is squandered.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The plans of the labourers' cottages referred to in the Question were prepared on the lines of the Local Government Board's model plans, and, in the opinion of the Board, are suitable. Each cottage will contain three bedrooms in addition to the kitchen or living room. As regards the erection of the cottages in ranges of six or nine, it was arranged at the inquiry that instead of taking a number of scattered plots, against the wishes of the persons interested in the land, and thereby running the risk of having all or some of the plots rejected, one field or large 1715 plot of from four to eight acres should be acquired; and the parties consented to this modification as being less injurious to their interests. The Local Government Board have no information as to the alleged refusal of the labourers to take the cottages, but it is open to them to put ther objections before the rural district council. The Board see no reason for intervening. If Labourers should only be willing to accept sites which they themselves select, the council might consider that they would be justified in not proceeding with the schemes.