When I put down a question for to-day to the Minister for Finance, I did not think there would be any necessity to raise the matter on the adjournment. I would have much preferred if the Minister, instead of evading the question I put to him, had made some effort to give a reply which, if not satisfactory, would have proved to me that he had at least considered the state of affairs which exists in County Mayo. A short time ago a resolution was passed unanimously by the Mayo County Council drawing attention to the state of affairs in that county and appealing to the Government to take some steps to remedy the conditions there. I was surprised when the Minister for Finance informed me to-day that the Government — or the Minister at least — had not received any intimation as to that resolution. I understood that the chairman of the county council, who sits on the opposite Benches, had made it his duty — as I think it was — to communicate that resolution to the Government Party or to the Executive Council. I thought that that resolution had been placed in the hands of the Government and that they would make some effort to deal with the matter. I find that they plead ignorance of the matter. In his reply to me to-day, regarding the demand for some relief in the County Mayo, the Minister referred me to a reply given on the 10th October last, when he said that the sum of £32,000 voted in the current year's Estimates for the completion of works unfinished on 31st March last had been spent and that it was not proposed to make further provision for relief schemes this year, as any such provision would entail the presentation, at the same time, of proposals to the Dáil for the raising of an equal sum by the imposition of fresh taxation. That reply, of course, is quite good enough for the Government to give, but if they really understood the position in the country to-day, and if they really understood the position as it is in the County Mayo, which I deem it my duty as one of the county representatives to give a short account of, I think they would face up to the facts more seriously. I have made it my business to go around the County Mayo, not to inquire about things which I wanted to talk about or in respect of which I wanted to make complaints, but simply to find out the position as it is. I found that from the extreme end of the county, from Kilmovee to the coast of Erris, there was extreme poverty. I was told that by responsible people in every parish. I was asked by them to try, with the other Deputies, to make the Deputies on the Government Benches and the Government realise the seriousness of the matter and see if anything could be done to provide a remedy during the coming months.
The flooding this year in Mayo was commented upon by the County Council, and it was brought to the notice of the Government that flooding took place this year to a greater extent than in the previous year, with the result that crops are seriously damaged in the county. In the Erris area, there was flooding which caused very serious harm in the district, and I forwarded particulars to a certain Department. The same thing has happened in parts of East Mayo and, perhaps, throughout the whole county. I think if the Government were in earnest they would, regardless of the Drainage Acts which empower county councils to take up drainage schemes, initiate, through the Public Works Department or through the Land Commission, some schemes of drainage or other works that would repay the money spent on them and which could be carried on during the winter or spring months. The County Council, in the resolution they passed, pointed out that the potato crop in Mayo has suffered very seriously owing to flooding and other causes. There was a very bad harvest in parts of the county, I was informed of that and I saw that it was a fact. Then you have, as a rule, thousands of migratory labourers going over to England from the county every year. They had a very bad season this year, and they came back not as flush in cash as they used to be. The fishing industry in Mayo, as the Minister for Fisheries knows, is practically a dead letter. After the unfortunate disaster of a year ago, I thought the Minister would have taken some steps to put that industry on its feet or to see to the welfare of the fishermen who have to fight the waves in order to get a livelihood. I thought he would, at least, have established some local industries when the matter was brought so forcibly to his notice by the disaster of last year. It was a sad thing last year when County Mayo had to send out appeals for charity to the whole world for the fishermen of Mayo and the people who suffered as a result of that disaster. These appeals were made to charitable people all over the world, so that these people might be enabled to live. And after that has been done, we feel ashamed of the position of the fishermen of County Mayo. This year they are in a serious position. That is not confined to the fishermen this year, as hardship exists amongst a great element of the population. We had hoped that local industries which had been set up would be fostered by the new Department which is to look after the Gaeltacht, but while those concerned have been deliberating about what they should do those local industries have been dying out. In one parish in Erris you have machinery lying idle, while a promise was given by the Government some years ago that extra engines would be provided so that that machinery might be set working and provide employment. I mention these facts to show that when I speak of relief schemes for County Mayo I am not talking of anything that might be described as "doles."
There are schemes actually there that could be made operative by a sympathetic Government. They might not be called relief schemes, perhaps, but they are schemes that would give a very good return for the money expended on them. I suppose what I have said about the County Mayo could be said about nearly every other county. The Government seem, however, not to realise that there is necessity to take the ordinary people into consideration, as we unfortunately know in the County Mayo. Some years ago, the Congested Districts Board used to expend a lot of money in works of different kinds in the congested areas. At present there is not a single penny being expended by the body that has replaced the Congested Districts Board. The only reply we can get from the Land Commission is that estates which are in their hands in every part of the county for fifteen years are receiving attention.
