§ MR. SWIFT MACNEILL (Donegal, S.)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether he is now in a position to state when the construction of the long-promised pier for the harbour of Killybegs, County Donegal, will be commenced.
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY(Sir J. HIBBERT, Oldham)The proposal of the Congested Districts Board to erect an iron pier presents two difficulties. Railway funds cannot legally be devoted to such a purpose, and it would apparently be impossible to create a Harbour Authority armed with sufficient means to ensure the future maintenance of a work so liable to accident as an iron pier. The question is being considered whether the railway funds might not be applied either to constructing a concrete quay wall as part of the station works to accommodate the class of vessels which use the old pier, or else (if supplemented by outside funds) to constructing a quay suitable for the larger class of vessels which would be accommodated by the proposed iron pier. In either case, the railway funds would be legally applicable, and the future maintenance of such a quay would be less expensive than that of an iron pier. But in either case it is uncertain whether there will be sufficient balance available from the railway funds—a question which cannot be decided for some little time; and, in the latter case, I am not yet aware whether the Congested Districts Board will be 164 prepared to contribute the balance required.