§ 18. Mr. P. MEEHANasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether the mining expert of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) has visited the Killeshin coalfields, Queen's County and Carlow; if he has furnished any report thereon; and whether, with a view to the development of these coalfields, he will consider the advisability of advising that a thorough survey of these fields should be made by Government experts with a view to ascertaining their productiveness and commercial value?
§ Mr. DUKEThe Economic Geologist of the Department of Agriculture visited the district referred to in 1912. Pits hitherto sunk in the district have been abandoned as unremunerative, and it is not possible to investigate fully without heavy expenditure. The records of the Geological Survey indicate that the seams are thin. A re-survey of the Leinster coalfield, including the district in question, by the Geological Survey is in progress.