§ Mr. KILBRIDEasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that Dr. John Henry M'Kenaa has been recently elected to the position of dispensary doctor of the Monasterevan, county Kildare, dispensary district,; that the Local Government Board have refused to sanction his appointment, with the result that a district comprising 31,000 acres, with a population of 6,000, is deprived of the services of a resident medical officer; that the Local Government Board have suggested to the board of guardians the continuance of the services of Dr. Rico, who resides in another district, and is over fifteen miles away from part of the Monasterevan dispensary district, and an arrangement that would entail an additional cost on the ratepayers of more than £50 per annum, and would not ensure that 93W the fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters of the soldiers at the front, natives of the Monasterevan dispensary district, would receive adequate medical attendance when necessary; and whether he will take steps to have the appointment of Dr. M'Kenna as dispensary doctor of Monasterevan dispensary district confirmed, and the poor of the district given the benefit of the services of a resident medical officer?
§ Mr. DUKEThe Local Government Board have declined to sanction the appointment of Dr. M'Kenna to the position of temporary medical officer of the Monasterevan district. The reasons for this decision are that Dr. M'Kenna is of military age and eligible for employment in the Army; that there is urgent need for doctors in the R.A.M.C.; and that in the opinion of the Board the temporary arrangement made some time ago for the medical care of the district was both adequate and satisfactory. This arrangement would not entail an additional cost on the ratepayers of £50 per annum The population of the district is 4,600, not 6,000 as stated in question.