§ Mr. CLANCYasked the Secretary to the Treasury if he will state, in reference to the refusal of the Development Fund Commissioners to recommend a Grant for the improvement of the harbour of 2217W Skerries, county of Dublin, on the ground that there were no resident fishermen there and that the value of the fish landed there was only about £500 per annum, on what evidence those allegations are founded; whether any steps and, if so, what steps, have been taken to test the truth of those statements; whether the Commissioners know that they have been publicly denied at a meeting in Skerries in the presence of the Vice-President of the Irish Department of Agriculture; and whether any of the Commissioners or any of their officials has ever visited Skerries and inquired there into those allegations?
§ Mr. MASTERMANThe information to which the hon. Member refers was obtained from the Government Department concerned, and the Development Commissioners felt entitled to rely on its being correct. As I stated in reply to a question of the hon. Member on the 3rd instant, the vice-chairman and secretary of the Commissioners visited Skerries early in July, 1911, but no formal inquiry was held, nor is one considered necessary.