§ MR. JAMES O'KELLY (Roscommon, N.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been called to the statement, made by Mr. Commissioner 1579 O'Brien, at Castlerea Session of the Land Court on the 17th ult., that the Suck drainage scheme had cost a great deal more than the benefit it had produced on the land; and, whether the Government will take steps to relieve the heavy taxation imposed upon the tenants in the Suck drainage district?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURI have seen the statement purporting to have been made by Mr. Commissioner O'Brien on the occasion referred to. I am unable to say whether Mr. O'Brien based these remarks, if correctly reported, on personal examination or on anything beyond the opinions expressed at public meetings. The tenants are charged only with the estimated value of the actual improvements effected in their holdings by the Drainage Works, and I have no evidence before me that this estimated value is incorrect.