§ MR. CLANCY (Dublin, N.)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade what was the amount of the fund accumulated by the Dublin Ballast Board, when the control of that body passed in 1854 into English hands; and whether the fund referred to, although an Irish fund, was appropriated by the Board of Trade to the uses of the United Kingdom; and, if so, by virtue of what enactment?
§ MR. MUNDELLABy an Act of 1853, the funds and revenues of Trinity House, the Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses, and the Port of Dublin Corporation, were, together with certain fees received by the Board of Trade, amalgamated and formed into the Mercantile Marine Fund. The net amount contributed to the fund by the Port of Dublin Corporation was some £78,924. The Mercantile Marine Fund, which is only responsible for the maintenance of general passing lights, took over the duty of completing the construction as well as the maintenance of certain Irish local lights. The cost of completing these local lights amounted to some £20,000, and the net cost of maintenance, after deducting the dues received, to some £3,780 a year.