§ 14. Major O'NEILLasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether, under the Irish Land (Provision for Sailors and Soldiers) Act, the Local Government Board have power to grant applications from ex-Service men in Ireland for allotments in cases where housing accommodation is not required; and, if not, will he introduce legislation to give them such power?
§ Mr. HENRYUnder the Act referred to, the Land Commission have power to provide holdings for ex-Service men either with or without housing accommodation, whilst the powers of the Local Government Board are confined to providing cottages with plots attached. If by allotments my hon. and gallant Friend means small plots of ground let by the season, such plots can be provided by local authorities under the Local Government Board's Allotments and Land Cultivation (Ireland) Act, 1917. In the circumstances there seems no immediate necessity for legislation.
§ Major O'NEILLCould not the Local Government Board be given power to give plots without cottages in circumstances where the men who want them have housing accommodation, where under the present Act they can give plots with houses?
§ Mr. HENRYThe necessity in the case of men who have neither house nor land is so much greater than in the case of men who already have comfortable houses that they must wait the provision of the others.
§ Major O'NEILLWas not the object of the Act to settle on the land those men who had served in the War, but wished to have this land to make use of?