I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he will say in how many cases the Local Government Board have objected to the appointment of temporary medical officers in dispensary districts on the ground that the proposed doctor resided outside the district; is he aware that, in the Ballinagh dispensary district, the doctor who has been doing temporary duty for over three months resided in Cavan, where the doctor whose appointment is refused also resides; will he state why the two doctors have been meted out different treatment; will he state in how many cases the Local Government Board have surcharged Poor Law guardians for payments to doctors appointed to do temporary duty, whose appointments were not sanctioned by the Local Government Board, within the last three years; and will he state whether the Local Government Board intend t have the guardians surcharged in Dr. Clarke's case.

The Local Government Board are unable to state, without a very extensive search, the number of cases in which they have made objections, or the number in which surcharges have been made. In refusing to sanction Dr. Clarke's appointment the Board acted under Article 22 of their Dispensary Rules, winch was framed in the interests of the sick poor. It is the fact that the previous temporary medical officer resided in Cavan, but the Board objected to this arrangement and the guardians themselves eventually found it to be inconvenient and put an end to it. More-ever, Dr. Clarke's case differs from that of the previous temporary medical officer, inasmuch as it was proposed to place him in charge of three dispensary districts, in not one of which he resides. The power of surcharge rests with the Auditor, and not with the Local Government Board.