§ SIR THOMAS ESMONDEI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he is aware that the fishermen at Courtown, county Wexford, have been unable to get to sea for some time past owing to the silting up of the harbour; if the dredger, promised on 22nd October last 760 by the Department of Agriculture, has been sent to Courtown; and whether, in view of the fact that for years past the fishermen at Courtown, and at other places on the south-east coast of Ireland, have been continually making representations to successive Governments with a view to the improvement of their harbours, he will seriously consider the question of giving them the same opportunities of earning their living as are given to fishermen in Scotland and in other parts of Ireland.
MR. BRYCEThe Department of Agriculture are aware that the larger boats at Courtown have recently been prevented from leaving the harbour, owing to the condition of the bar. A similar state of affairs existed at the end of the year 1904. The Department, in co-operation with the county council, then cleared the entrance by the use of a steam crane and grab working from the pier. On learning, on 22nd October, that the entrance to the harbour had again become choked, the Department took immediate steps to have the crane moved from Arklow to Courtown; and it is now being erected there. The greater number of harbours on the east coast are purely artificial, and are liable to become choked by accumulations of sand. The Department are now in possession of a sand pump dredger, which is available for use in harbours suitable to her capacities, and arrangements could be made for placing her at the disposal of such harbour authorities as are prepared to cooperate in providing for her expense.