HC Deb 27 November 1917 vol 99 c1834
63. Mr. FIELD

asked the Chief Secretary whether he is aware that the results of an inspection by the town surveyor of Tipperary, Mr. W. J. Heffenan, show that the forty-four cottages erected by Lord Barrymore in the Tipperary urban district, and in respect of which he received loans in 1878-1880 at the rate of £148 per house under the Land Improvement Acts, have an average capacity of only 2,911 cubic feet per house, while seventeen superior two-storey houses erected by the urban council in 1900 at a cost of exactly £148 per house have a capacity of 4,880 cubic feet per house; and whether he will state on what grounds the advance of £148 per house by way of loan to Mr. Smith Barry, now Lord Barrymore, is sustained?

Mr. DUKE

The Commissioners of Public Works have no means of making a comparison of the value of Lord Barrymore's cottages and those built by the district council. Such a comparison could have no practical value, as the loans were made more than thirty years ago, and have been almost entirely repaid. I am informed that the cottages built under Land Improvement loans were erected on approved plans and specifications, and the average cost was not excessive.