§ Mr. NEWMANasked the Chief Secretary (1) the number of cottages proposed to be erected by the Tralee Rural District Council under the new scheme and the estimated total cost of the scheme; if he will lay upon the Table of the House the full particulars and correspondence relating to this proposed new scheme; and (2) whether the Tralee Rural District Council have applied for another loan in order to finance another labourers' cottage scheme; and, if so, will he consider the advisability of withholding the money until such time as the Local Government Board have reported that the previous cottage scheme in which 382 cottages were authorised, and for which a loan of £65,700 was obtained, is completed to the satisfaction of their inspector?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe new scheme referred to proposes to provide 344 cottages (with plots of land attached) and 14 additional allotments for existing cottages, the total estimated cost being £63,064. The scheme, with maps and other documents, including the council's application for sanction to the requisite loan in the matter, was lodged with the Local Government Board on the 26th May last, but, in common with a number of schemes from other rural districts, cannot be proceeded with pending the provision by Parliament of additional funds for the purposes of the Labourers Acts. Beyond returning some of the documents for slight amendments, no correspondence relating to the scheme has taken place between the Board and the council since the scheme was lodged. The manner in which the cottages have been built under the last scheme will be considered by the Board in due course in connection with the sanctioning of any loan for the purposes of the new scheme.