§ MR. O'SHEAasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether he has received an answer from the Treasury to his communication respecting a guaranteed loan towards the construction of the Ennis and West Clare Railway; and, if not, whether, in view of the relief to the distress of the labouring classes in the district which employment on the works would afford, he will move the Treasury to speedily announce its decision?
§ MR. TREVELYANI have received an answer from the Treasury on this subject, in which they inform me that, having referred the matter to the Commissioners of Public Works in Dublin, they have received a Report from that Board stating that no application has yet been made by the Directors of the Railway Company to the Board for a loan, and that the conditions precedent to their borrowing, with regard to the subscriptions for and paying up of share capital, have not yet been fulfilled. Until the Directors are legally competent to contract a loan, and have applied for one to the Commissioners of Public Works, it is obvious that the Treasury cannot take any steps in the matter.