asked the Minister for Finance the present position regarding the application by over five hundred farmers to have the upper reaches of the Lung river in County Mayo cleared and deepened.

I am advised that the inspection of the site has been arranged to take place in the next week or so. As soon as the report has been received and considered a decision will be communicated to the Deputy.

Could the Parliamentary Secretary say what is the reason for the delay in tackling this job?

In a previous reply, I told the Deputy that these inspections were hardly ever carried out in winter, except when the weather was very kind.

Since the middle of February, the weather has been fine enough to carry out the inspection without employing a helicopter.

11.

asked the Minister for Finance when the work of draining the Turlough river at Cuíliane, Irish-town, County Mayo, is likely to commence.

It is proposed to make a survey in the near future, and when the engineer's report is available an early decision will be made whether the proposal is suitable to be done as a rural improvement scheme. I may say that the information available to date indicates that the scheme would involve cutting a new drain up to 12 feet deep, partly through rock and that it is unlikely that the project can be brought within the scope of the minor drainage works normally undertaken under the rural improvements scheme.