§ MR. MARUMasked the Secretary to the Treasury, Whether his attention has been called to the case of the arterial drainage scheme in the Goula and Erkina district, extending over portions of Tip-perary, North Kilkenny, and the Queen's County for a distance of over twenty miles; that the land occupiers, mainly the tenant farmers of the locality, promoted this scheme, and subscribed a considerable sum out of their own resources to have the necessary surveys, maps, plans, and specifications executed by the county surveyor of Kilkenny, and further to have the same lodged with the Board of Works; that in due course, and during last autumn, the Inspector of the Board of Works, Mr. H. Barrington, C.E., inspected the drainage district and made his Report thereon, which was of a most favourable character, showing that it would highly improve the lands in the locality, and yield a considerable percentage upon the proposed outlay, besides exhibiting advantages of a sanitary nature, and further calculated to afford considerable employment in an impoverished district; that the summer period of the year is now at hand, when not only the proposed works can be executed with facility, but the labour market of the locality can be largely and beneficially availed of; and, whether the Board of Works, taking all these circumstances into favourable consideration, is prepared to carry out the undertaking of his predecessor in the office of Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, by forthwith giving effect to the long-continued and expensive efforts of the promoters of this important and desirable drainage operation?
§ MR. HIBBERTI fancy that this is the same district as that about which a Question was asked me on February 24. If so, I can only say that the Government have every willingness to help this work forward. But there is no power under the present law to overrule the objections of the owners, which, apparently, are the sole obstacles to the completion of the Provisional Order. A Bill giving us that power is before the House, but it is blocked by the hon. Member for Cavan; and if the hon. 1846 Member could induce his hon. Friend (Mr. Biggar) to allow that Bill to proceed, this defect might be remedied.