§ MR. JAMES O'CONNOR (Wicklow, W.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that, in accordance with the provision contained in the Blackrock and Kingstown Drainage and Improvement Act of 1896, that within two months from the passing of that Act a certificate should be obtained from an engineer to be nominated by the Local Government Board for Ireland that the works intended to be legalised by that Act had been completed, Mr. Samuel Usher Roberts, C.B., who was nominated as such engineer in October, 1896, has been applied to by the Blackrock and Kingstown Drainage Board to give the certificate required by the Act of 1896; can he state how often and when did he receive the last application from the Board, and whether he has declined to give the certificate asked by the Board; and, if so, for what reasons; and whether the drainage works are now effectual; if not, are they capable of being made effectual without new works and fresh capital?
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. J. ATKINSON,) Londonderry, N.The facts are correctly stated in the first paragraph. Mr. Roberts inspected the works in October, 1896, and again in May, 1897. On the 5th January last he received a letter from the secretary to the Drainage Board requesting him to make an inspection, for the purpose of granting the necessary certificate. This inspection was also carried out by Mr. Roberts, who found that some additional works, recommended by the Drainage Board's consulting engineer, were not then completed. On the 15th April Mr. Roberts inquired whether the works had been completed, but so far he has received no notification from the Drainage Board that they had. The engineer states that when he inspected the district the works were not, in his 369 opinion, in every respect, efficient, but he is unable to say how far the works since executed have rendered them effectual, or whether further expenditure will be necessary.
§ MR. J. O'CONNORAre we to understand that the Board have not carried out the Act of Parliament which they got from this House in 1896, and which required that the certificate should be given within two months of the passing of the Act?
§ MR. ATKINSONIt is quite evident from the answer I have given that they have not carried it out.