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Trained Nurses In Irish Workhouses

Volume 91: debated on Friday 22 March 1901

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I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can state if the sealed Order of the 4th March issued to the boards of guardians in reference to the appointment of trained nurses in workhouses gives the Local Government Board the power to appoint as many officers for the workhouses as they think fit without consulting the guardians; and if so, can he state what the guardians' duties will be if they have no power to refuse to make appointments which they consider unnecessary; and if it will be necessary for every board of guardians in Ireland to take legal steps to upset this sealed order, as the Armagh guardians are about doing.

The sealed Order of the 4th February confers no new power on the Board. The Order was made in pursuance of Section 31 of the Poor Relief Act, 1838. The powers of the guardians will be to select a proper person for filling any office deemed necessary for the well-being of the sick poor. The answer to the second paragraph is in the negative. The Board will be guided by the decision of the Lord Lieutenant in Council on the Armagh case, and, as I have already stated, any representations that may be made by local authorities against the Order will be carefully considered by the Hoard.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the Local Government Board have refused to sanction the appointment of persons described as half-qualified, and thereby upset the action of the guardians?

The duty of the Local Government Board is to refuse to sanction the appointment of those they hold to be not qualified.

Is the right hon. Gentleman aware that the Local Government Board is in conflict with the boards of guardians because they refuse to sanction the appointment of persons the guardians deem to be qualified?

I am not aware of that. I deeply regret it, but I am glad to say that many boards have recognized that the Local Government Board have acted in their interests.