§ MR. J. PHILLIPS (Longford, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland why the Local Government Board for Ireland have refused to sanction a loan of £30,996 applied for by the Longford Rural District Council for the purpose of the Longford Rural District Labourers (Unopposed) Order, 1908, having regard to the fact that the council's application is based on the amount actually approved of by the Local Government Board, namely, £133 4s. 4d. for building each cottage and fencing plot attached thereto, on the amount (or within £2 of it) allowed by the arbitrator, namely, £33 5s. 4d. for the purchase of each acre of land 287 acquired under the Order, and on a sum of £12 per cottage which has been set aside to pay incidental expenses.
§ MR. BIRRELLThe loan applied for by the Longford Rural District Council is at the rate of £182 15s. per cottage, which the Local Government Board consider too high, and the Board have informed the district council that they are not prepared to advance a loan at this rate out of the limited fund provided by the Labourers Act of 1906. The Board have, however, expressed their willingness to sanction a loan of £170 per cottage which they think should be sufficient, and, should this prove inadequate, to consider the propriety of authorising the district council to obtain a supplemental loan in the open market.