MR. M`CARTAN (Down, S.)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade with reference to the proposed pier at Holywood, County Down, whether, considering the default of the late undertakers, he has fixed any period of time within which the present purchasers of the pier are obliged to put it into repair; and whether he is aware that, notwithstanding the lapse of almost two years since the purchase, no steps have yet been taken in the matter?
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Sir M. HICKS BEACH, Bristol, W.)I am aware that, during the period of nearly a year and a half which has elapsed since the purchase of the pier, nothing has been done by the purchasers, although their attention has been called to the matter by the Board of Trade. I have no authority to compel persons who obtain powers under Provisional Orders, or their successors, to exercise the powers conferred on them, and I therefore could not fix a period as suggested. It may, indeed, be a question whether, having regard to Section 12 of the General Pier and Harbour Act of 1862, the powers to repair the pier, given by the Order of 1882, have not now expired.