asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health if it is intended to carry out the erection of labourers' cottages on the plots in Kerry which were surveyed and taken over by the Local Government Department within the past 12 years, and, if so, when.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - LABOURERS' COTTAGES IN KERRY.
The provision of labourers' cottages on the plots referred to is a matter, in the first instance for the Kerry County Board of Health and Public Assistance and any proposals put forward by that body in this connection will have my sympathetic consideration.
Will the Minister give consideration to the advisability of granting long-term loans together with subsidies for the erection of additional labourers' cottages as they are badly needed in Donegal and other counties?
It is a separate question, but it is a matter that is getting consideration.
asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health if he is aware of the dilapidated condition of the labourers' cottages in North Kerry; if he is aware that the Engineering Department of the Kerry County Council has failed to satisfy the requirements of the Kerry Board of Health in this area; and if he will agree to the unanimous wish of the Board of Health, and appoint an engineer over whom that Board will have jurisdiction.
My Department is at present considering the causes of delavs which have arisen in the repairs of labourers' cottages in North Kerry, and the County Council and County Board of Health are being communicated with. As regards the last part of the question, I am not yet persuaded that the engineering work of the Board of Health could not be satisfactorily carried out by the County Council Surveying Staff.
Is it a fact that engineers, surveyors and owners of cottages frequently have been making reports as regards the bad condition of the cottages in North Kerry, and that the Board of Health have not taken any action in the matter for many years past?
I have no information with regard to that.
Is the Minister aware that the Board of Health has notified the Engineering Department of the Kerry County Council hundreds of times to make out specifications and estimates for the repair of those cottages, and have hardly got a reply from the Engineering Department of the County Council?
I have no personal knowledge of that.
Mr. O'LEARY
This scheme has been in existence for four years, and that should be an ample period to give any scheme a trial.