§ Mr. JAMES O'KELLYasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he has received the resolution of the Strokestown Rural District Council calling attention to the need for the establishment of veterinary dispensaries in the Strokestown union and in convenient situations for the use of the small landholders of the union; whether he is aware that urgent representations were made by this council to the Department of Agriculture some considerable time ago and that nothing so far has been done within the union; and, if so, will he say what action he is prepared to take in the matter?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe resolution referred to has been received. The Department of Agriculture in Ireland have established over one hundred veterinary dispensaries in the poorer parts of the congested districts. Their funds do not permit of the extension of the scheme to districts such as Strokestown where, on the whole, the need is not so great as in the areas already selected for the dispensaries. For the present the Department do not propose to establish veterinary dispensaries in the Strokestown area.