§ Mr. PATRICK WHITEasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether complaints have reached the Local Government Board as to their rearrangement of dispensary districts, partly in Meath and partly in Louth, in the union of Ardee, in the year 1904; whether, having regard to the unanimously expressed opinion of the people of the district, he will cause the matter to be inquired into, with a view to altering the existing arrangements under which unnecessary hardships are inflicted upon the sick poor, who have in many cases to send six miles for medical attendance; if he will state what distance the doctor in charge of the dispensary district. which includes Drumconnah, would have to travel if he was obliged to visit a patient at opposite extremes of his district on the same day; what is the area of his district and the length and width, respectively; and whether, in the whole of Ireland, there is another district so badly provided with medical attendance for the sick poor?
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§ Mr. CHERRYAs regards the first part of the question, I would refer the hon. Member to my reply to a question on the same subject asked by the hon. Member for South Louth on the 25th instant. I am informed by the Local Government Board that the dispensary district of Drumconrath is moderate in size and of average population. The facilities afforded to the sick poor throughout the district for obtaining medical relief are considered adequate by the Board, and compare favourably with the arrangements in many other rural dispensary districts in Ireland.