§ Mr. PATRICK MEEHANasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whether the Local Government Board for Ireland will grant supplemental loans to rural district councils to meet the extra cost per cottage caused by the councils being compelled, owing to the rise in the price of building material and the difficulty of securing contractors for the work, to pay more per cottage than the maximum sum at present allowed; and whether the Local Government Board for Ireland, in view of the difficulty experienced by councils in getting contractors to carry out the work, will consider the advisability of increasing the maximum amount allowed per cottage?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe practice of the Local Government Board has been when the cost of a cottage exceeds the loan sanctioned out of land purchase funds, to permit the local authority to obtain a supplemental loan in the open market, and this practice may still be pursued in particular cases, but the Board are not prepared at this juncture to alter their settled policy of limiting the amount of the advance out of land purchase funds for each cottage and plot.