There are a few things to which I would like to draw the attention of the Parliamentary Secretary on this Estimate. They come under three headings, military barracks, the Rampart River drainage scheme and the Glyde Drainage Scheme.
With reference to the military barracks, I understand that Dundalk Urban Council has made application to the Board of Works to have the barracks handed over to them for housing purposes. The Minister for Defence, in a letter read at a meeting of the Council about a month ago, stated that his Department had handed over the barracks to the Department of Public Works. A letter was sent on 14th of last month to that Department and no reply has yet been received to it. I should like the Parliamentary Secretary to say if, in the immediate future, he can come to a definite decision as to the ultimate disposal of the military barracks. At present the Urban Council, of which I am a member, is proposing to erect 80 or 90 houses in the middle and south end of the town. The barracks are located in a part of the town in which very few houses have been built for the past 20 years. They consist of married quarters and some very fine blocks which could, at very little cost, be turned into nice, little, self-contained dwellings for the people of that area. I may state, for the information of the Parliamentary Secretary, that there has been recently established in that area a very successful boot factory. Many of the skilled workers in that factory have come from England. They find it very difficult to secure housing accommodation. Most of them are married men. It is generally agreed by the members of the Council and by the townspeople that the barracks would be an ideal spot in which to house people of that type. I hope that the Parliamentary Secretary will see his way to have these barracks handed over to the Urban Council.
The question of the drainage of the Rampart River is in the same position as the question to which Deputy Dillon referred, but it is so long since the question of the drainage of this river was introduced that the terms of reference have been quite forgotten. I understand that at the inquiry held certain objections were put forward by, amongst others, the surveyor attached to the Urban Council. Largely as a result of his evidence, I think, the Board of Works were somewhat dubious about proceeding with the scheme they had outlined. Certain engineering difficulties presented themselves, and a question also arose as to the effect which the proposed deepending of the river would have on the sewer known as the Rampart River sewer. I understand that an alternative scheme was put up by the Board of Works, and two months ago a new survey was made of the river. At present, we are waiting for the report of the engineer who made that survey. The flooding of this river has caused great damage to property adjacent to the river and also to sewers. It is a great annoyance and a danger to the health of a large section of the people who live adjacent to the river. Many houses have been flooded during the abnormal rainfalls. There was also the question of the working of the Cambrieville Brewery as affected by the flooding. In company with the manager, I inspected the damage done to the brewery by the continuous overflowing of the river. Unless it is checked, I am afraid that it will have a very serious effect on the future of the business run in connection with the brewery. I should like if the Parliamentary Secretary would look into the correspondence and come to some definite decision in connection with this river.
There is also the question of the River Glyde, which, so far as I know, also presents great engineering difficulty. There, again, an inspection was made quite recently by one of the Board of Works engineers, Mr. O'Flynn. I am not in a position to state whether or not he has yet made a report. The Parliamentary Secretary is, I am sure, aware that the flooding of this river caused enormous damage to the crops last year in Tully area. That was, again, due to abnormal flooding, but this flooding is becoming too frequent. Last year, I think, the river overflowed its banks on three occasions and many of the farmers had to re-sow their crops. It is suggested that the original scheme was, more or less, responsible for this flooding, that the cleaning of the upper reaches of the river caused the water to flow down so quickly that it was not able to get away from this area, which serves as a sort of basin, with sufficient speed. It was with a view to relieving that flooding that the inspection was recently made. I should like that the Parliamentary Secretary would intimate to Louth County Council when the report of the engineer will be available. I understand that it is not the intention, at the moment, of the Board of Works to let the County Council have that report. They are anxious to have it, because they think they may be able to give some valuable information as to the real causes of this flooding. Those are the three things to which I would like to call attention—(1) the military barracks, (2) the Rampart River, and (3) the Glyde River. Those three things are of very great importance to the interests concerned, and I hope to have a statement from the Parliamentary Secretary with regard to them.