§ MR. H. J. GILL (Limerick)asked the Secretary to the Treasury, Whether he is aware that great injury has been sustained by the Floating Dock at Limerick owing to the subsidence of the dock wall; whether, in 1864, only 10 years after the completion of the works, a portion of the river wall fell out, and had to be re-built by the Board of Works, at a cost of about £2,790; whether other portions of the dock and river wall are now in great danger of falling in, and thereby causing much inconvenience to the trade, as well as loss to the revenue, of the Port of Limerick; whether those dock works were built by the Commissioners of Public Works in Ireland, under their sole supervision, and upon their design; had the Limerick Harbour Commissioners any control over the construction of the works; will he inquire whether the subsidence of the dock wall was the result of the original defective construction of the works, or of what other cause; in case the Limerick Harbour Commissioners should be unable to undertake the construction of the works, from want of funds or other causes, will the Treasury, or the Board of Works, be prepared to supply funds to repair and restore the works, if it should appear that such necessity has arisen from their defective construction originally; whether, in view of the fact that the Limerick Harbour Commissioners have paid up all their liabilities to the Treasury in respect of advances for those works, on the assumption of their stability and permanent character, the Harbour Commissioners will now be called upon to defray the cost of the restoration of the works; and, will any assurance be given, on behalf of the above named Public Departments, that some immediate action will be taken towards the restoration of the works, and the prevention of further damage to other parts of the docks?
§ THE SECRETARY (Mr. JACKSON) (Leeds, N.)It is impossible, within the limits of an answer to a Question, to deal with the points raised by the hon. Member. Briefly stated, the connection of the Government with the Port of Limerick has been as follows:—In 1824 a loan of £60,000 was made for the 507 construction of a bridge and tidal basin. In 1831 a further sum of £70,000 was advanced for the completion and improvement of these works. In 1846 a Receiver, on behalf of the Board of Works, was in receipt of the revenues of the Port; but the Government of the day consented, in deference to strong local representations, to spend £54,000 on the dock referred to in the Question of the hon. Member. Up to 1867 £179,384 had been spent on the Port, entirely from National Funds, and the annual charge amounted to between £6,000 and £7,000. In that year the Government made remissions amounting to £169,919, of which £114,248 was principal and £55,671 interest, leaving a debt on the Port of £59,414, and reducing the annual charge from £6,000 or £7,000 to £2,014. Since 1867 the Harbour Commissioners have been in charge of the Port, and I am not prepared to go behind the arrangement then made.