asked the Minister for Finance whether an application for a grant of £25,000 has been received from the Trustees of the Lough Corrib, Mask and Carra Drainage Scheme, to enable them to improve the drainage of this district in County Galway, and, if so, what action has been taken, or is proposed to be taken, on the application.
WRITTEN ANSWERS. - CO. GALWAY DRAINAGE SCHEME.
It is the case that an application for a large grant for renovation purposes has been made by the Trustees of the Lough Corrib Drainage District. I understand that the Trustees seek to throw upon the Government some responsibility for the present defective state of the drainage area on account of alleged errors in the execution of the works, for which the Board of Works of that time and their engineers were responsible. However, as these works were completed as far back as 1859, it seems to me to be a fruitless proceeding to proceed now to inquire into the merits of the matter, more particularly as the Government of the time carried out most of the work at its own expense.
The Trustees, undoubtedly, have a substantial grievance, and a real excuse for the state of neglect into which their district has fallen, in the fact that it has proved impracticable to collect drainage maintenance rates from the large numbers of tenant purchasers who have replaced the previous landowners. This is a state of affairs which may have to be met by a considerable adjustment of present arrangements, and this, I fear, might require legislation. As a result of the discussion of this matter which has been in progress, an engineer from the Office of Public Works has gone down to Galway to discuss the position with the engineer of the Drainage Trustees and their advisors. He will also make an examination of the district when weather conditions permit.