The public no doubt, as well as members of this House, will be greatly relieved to have this report circulated. It is somewhat disappointing that it is only an interim report, and, as the Minister has indicated, one question at least has been reserved for further consideration. The Dáil was startled about this time two years ago by very serious allegations against the Ordnance Survey. It was alleged, amongst others, by a Deputy no longer a member of this House, Mr. Sean McGarry, that not only had most important documents been removed, but that plates and maps had been destroyed and that data essential to the work of map production had disappeared irrecoverably. That may not be a perfectly accurate account of Mr. McGarry's indictment, but so far as memory serves me, he and others such as Deputy Connor Hogan and Deputy Hogan of the Labour Party, together made an indictment of which that, I think, is a fair summary. Everyone felt at the time that if it were true that documents essential to the military safety of this country had disappeared, if data upon which the production of maps has to be based were beyond our reach; if, as was further alleged, the maps issued were not accurate, the country would be in a very sad plight indeed, through the disorganisation, or whatever else it might be called, of this very important Department. There were several items in the terms of reference to the Committee that was set up to inquire and report on this matter. The Committee was to inquire if the Ordnance Survery had its full measure of equipment, and was properly provided, if maps, plans, documents and the rest had been removed since December. 1919, and whether or not the maps issued were constructed upon a proper basis, and as issued were an accurate account of the results of the surveys. Two very important things were involved: one, that the trigonometrical data provided by the survey set up in the first quarter of the nineteenth century were not to hand when they were required for national purposes at a very critical moment in 1922, and that, in common with other data, they have been transferred to Southampton. I wonder would the Minister say if the report we are to receive deals with that? The Minister spoke of levellings just now. There has been a continuous dispute, I know, with regard to the following of the older levelling marks, bench marks, or the substitution of new, and the dispute as to the relative merits of the old system of levelling. But what is really of the utmost importance to know is, whether this matter—this terrible matter if it be true— has or has not been proved, or still awaits to be proved, because undoubtedly the note-books which contain the result of trigonometrical data are not forthcoming, and if no substitute for them that can be validated as accurate and authentic records are forthcoming, we are in a very serious position. At the time I, for one, refused to believe that there could be a case made for this contention, and even now I should be glad to be reassured, and I am sure those of us who entered into the matter with interest at the time would feel intense relief to know that the reassuring words of the Minister applied to trigonometrical data. The Minister said just now in his summary of the report that all is well, and only this question of levellings is in reserve.
