asked the Minister for Finance if, in view of the fact that 20 townlands and more than 6,000 acres of land are involved, he has any proposals for work on the rivers Owenduff and Coroch, South Wexford under the Arterial Drainage Act, 1945.

The Owenduff and Coroch rivers are small catchments not included in the settled priority lists and, accordingly, there are no proposals at present to drain them.

It is not possible to forecast when they might be reached in the national arterial drainage programme.

Would the Parliamentary Secretary not agree to let me go back to my friends in south Wexford and the odd one he may have down there and tell them that those two rivers will be added to the present list?

I understand that the Office of Public Works drained some small catchments that were not in the main scheme according as they thought they would find time to do it. One of these was in this area, the Owenavorragh in County Wexford, although not the two the Deputy is asking about. As time went on, the Office of Public Works found that it was not economical in money, men or time and they discontinued the marginal drainage. The rivers the Deputy has in mind will not be taken up under the present policy until the main scheme has been completed.

How many years will that take?

The Deputy is a better expert in regard to the length of time it takes to drain catchment areas than I am. I suppose it will be a while.

Would I be foolish to go down and tell my friends in South Wexford that those two rivers will be added to the list?

The Deputy would be wrong to tell them that at the moment.

Would the Parliamentary Secretary please convey that to some of his colleagues?