§ MR. SEXTON (for Mr. TIMOTHY HEALY,) Longford, N.I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether the original estimate for the Greystones Harbour, County Wicklow, by the Engineer of the Board of Works, was £10,000; that, to make up this sum, the Piers and Harbours Commissioners, under the Act of 1883, 46 & 47 Vic. c. 26, made a free grant, out of the £250,000 granted by that Act, of 88,500, and that the balance was made up according to the Report of the Inspectors of Fisheries for 1890 by a 539 contribution of £500, and a loan secured by the locality of £1,000; while, according to the Return to Parliament, dated 5th April, 1892, No. 153, the expenditure on this harbour was £17,870, and a further sum of £2,087, estimated to complete the works, making a total of nearly £20,000 instead of £10,000 as originally contemplated; and was this additional £10,000 given as a free grant out of the £250,000; and, if so, has it been made on the recommendation of the Piers and Harbours Commissioners, to whom the allocation of this £250,000 was entrusted by the Act of 1883, or were they consulted in the matter; and, if not, on whose authority has it been done?
*SIR JOHN GORSTThe original sanction was for £10,000 — namely, £8,500 free grant, £1,000 loan, and £500 local contribution. An expenditure of £2,957 over the estimate was authorised by the Treasury on the 16th December, 1889. The erection of the north groyne, a separate work not at first contemplated, was authorised by the Treasury in August, 1890, at a cost of £7,000, from the balance of the Sea Fisheries Fund, with the concurrence of the Irish Government. The Piers and Harbours Commissioners ceased to exist under the Act 52 & 53 Vic. c. 71, so that the further expenditure was not incurred on their recommendation.