§ DR. TANNER (Cork Co., Mid)asked the Secretary to the Treasury, Whether Mr. Kirkby, M.A., C.E., county surveyor, in his Report to the Grand Jury of the County of Cork, recommended them not to take over the Ballycotton Pier; whether it is a fact, as alleged before the Grand Jury, that in the portion of the pier in deep water serious settlements 202 have taken place, and that cracks have appeared in some places for the entire height, and that one of the most serious of these cracks has considerably increased since last spring; whether the surface of the pier is still subsiding, and the settlement of the structure is still going on; whether, as alleged by Mr. Kirkby, the end of the pier shows unmistakable signs of falling out, and whether many of the Grand Jury stated their personal knowledge of the utter worthlessness of the structure; and, whether that Body unanimously refused to take it over from the Board of Works?
§ SIR HERBERT MAXWELL (A LORD of the TREASURY) (Wigton)(who replied) read a telegram that he had just received from the Board of Works which denied that any serious settlements had taken place in the structure; but admitting that a few cracks were observable.