§ MR. JAMES O'CONNOR (Wicklow, W.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, (1) 173 whether the Local Government Board of Ireland have a representative on the Blackrock and Kingstown Main Drainage Board; (2) if they have, was he informed by the Main Drainage Board of their determination to deviate from the lines laid down in the Act of Parliament under which the Main Drainage Board was constituted; (3) did he communicate the information to the Local Government Board of Ireland; and (4) whether the Local Government Board gave their sanction in this case to the violation of the Act of Parliament?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURThe Act of 1893 constituting this Drainage Board, gave the Local Government Board power to nominate a member of the Drainage Board, though the member so nominated is independent and cannot be regarded as a representative of the Local Government Board. This gentleman acted in accord with the other members of the Drainage Board in sanctioning deviations which were made on the advice of counsel. The reply to the second and third paragraphs is in the negative.