§ Mr. SHEEHANalso asked the Chief Secretary how the additional million provided for the purposes of the Labourers Acts in 1911 has been expended; whether any portion of it remains still unallocated; how many schemes of labourers' cottages have been promulgated by district councils for which no moneys are at present available; what is the number of cottages for whose erection the sanction of the Local Government Board has been obtained; how many further schemes have been promoted by district councils into which local inquiries have not yet been held; what is the number of cottages comprised in them; is he aware that the operations of the Labourers Acts are at a standstill for want of money, and that the further million which it is proposed to grant under the Irish Land Bill is entirely insufficient to meet existing claims; and, having regard to the urgency of the matter, what steps does he propose to take to complete the settlement of the labourers' question?
§ Mr. BIRRELLOut of the additional million provided by the Labourers Act of 1911, loans have been sanctioned amounting to £572,770, and £235,960 will be required for cottages passed by the Local Government Board's inspectors. A sum of £81,430 is estimated as the cost of further schemes which have been inquired into, or in which inquiries are still pending.336W The unallocated balance of £109,840 would only provide about 647 more cottages at the usual rate of £170 per cottage. The Board have no details as to the number of schemes which have been framed by rural district councils for which no money is at present available. Loans have already been sanctioned for the erection of 3,369 cottages, and thirty further schemes, involving 4,582 cottages, have been prepared, but have not yet been inquired into. Additional funds, will, therefore, be required to carry through the schemes already lodged with the Board, but it is not clear that the additional million proposed in the Irish Land Bill will be entirely insufficient.