§ Mr. O'SHEEasked how many additional half-acre allotments have been provided since 1901 by the rural district councils of Dungarvan, Lismore, and Youghal No. 2; what additions to the weekly rents were made in respect of the additional half-acres; and what are the weekly rents of labourers' cottages and half-acres provided by these rural councils, and of cottages having acre allotments attached provided by the same councils, giving the maximum and minimum figures, where such rents vary in the same rural districts, and giving also the figures of such rents in the Kilmacthomas Rural District Council, Waterford, for the purpose of comparison?
§ Mr. BIRRELLSince 31st March, 1901, twenty-seven additional allotments have been provided in the Dungarvan Rural District, eighty-five in the Lismore Rural District, and sixty-two in the Youghal (No. 2) Rural District. The annual returns furnished to the Local Government Board do not give the exact information asked for in the remainder of the question, but they show that the average weekly rents of cottages in the rural districts mentioned in the question are as follows:—Dungarvan, 1s. 0½d.; Lismore, l0d.; Youghal No. 2, 6d. to 1s.; Kilmacthomas, 7½d. to l0½d. Draft regulations have been recently submitted to the Board under Section 29 of the Labourers (Ireland) 1470 Act (1906) by the Dungarvan, Youghal No. 2, and Kilmacthomas rural districts, but these regulations are still under consideration, and the rents proposed to be charged under them have not come into force.