§ MR. FFRENCHTo ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is aware that the New Ross Board of Guardians made an offer to the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland, about eighteen months ago, to purchase one of the houses belonging to the disused Coastguard station at Fethard for £120, or to rent it at £6 a year, proposing to use it as a dispensary; and whether, as no reply has been sent to the New Ross Guardians, he will ascertain what the Commissioners propose to do with reference to the guardians' offer.
(Answered by Mr. Hobhouse.) I am informed that the house in question had to be reserved for the Customs service, and that this fact was pointed out in the course of correspondence between the Board's local officer and the clerk of the union, who subsequently discussed at an interview the possibility of the guardians acquiring another of the station houses. Pending the receipt of the further views of the guardians the matter has been in abeyance. The Board are redeeming the 1058 head rent charged on the property, and, as soon as the legal formalities have been completed, the property will be publicly advertised for sale, and the guardians will be invited to make an offer for such portion of the premises as will not be required for public purposes.