§ COLONEL MCCALMONT (Antrim, E.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Fisheries Department of the Board of 57 Agriculture (Ireland) offered in March last £100 towards the protection of Lough Neagh fisheries on condition that before receiving the grant the conservators should say how they proposed to expend it; and, if so, will he explain why, after the Department had been furnished with a comprehensive and useful scheme, the grant was refused.
(Answered by Mr. Bryce.) In the year 1904 a grant of £100 was made by the Department of Agriculture to the Coleraine Board of Conservators, and was expended on the protection of spawning fish during the winter of 1904–5. An application for a further grant was made in August, 1905; but, as certain objections with regard to the matter reached the Department, it was found desirable to make investigation into the financial position and administrative actions of the conservators. No decision could be reached until 3rd January, 1906, when the conservators were informed that the grant of £100 would be made on the same conditions as in the previous year. It was, however, thon too late to apply the grant to the protection of spawning fish, and consequently no payment has been made in respect of it. Should a further application be received in connection with protection during the next spawning season, it will receive consideration.