asked the Minister for Local Government and Public Health if he will state what is the cause of the delay in the Ballyshannon Rural District of the County of Donegal in having two labourers' cottages repaired, which although inhabited, are at present unfit for habitation; if he is aware that on the 14th June, 1924, certain repairs were approved of by the Ballyshannon Rural District Council, and the Minutes of that date, with specification of repairs, were forwarded to his Department; and that an estimate of the cost of such repairs was subsequently, at the request of his Department, forwarded on the 13th September, 1924; and if he will state what steps have since been taken to see that such repairs are carried out, and whether this work will be immediately executed.

The papers in connection with this matter are with one of the Department's Housing Inspectors who is at present in the district. When they were received originally in September last, the Inspector had just returned from a prolonged tour in the county, and owing to pressure of work involved in the operations of the Housing (Building Facilities) Act, 1924, it was not possible for him to visit the district again earlier than last month. It is expected that his report will be received in the course of the week, when the question will be dealt with immediately.