§ MR. PATRICK O'BRIEN (Kilkenny)On behalf of the hon. Member for Dublin, St. Patrick (Mr. W. FIELD), I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (1) whether he is aware that, although the Lough Swilly Railway Company has got a sufficient grant of about £90,000 for making extensions of line from Buncrana to Cardonagh, the Company propose to ask the Grand Jury of Donegal on Friday the 12th instant for an additional guarantee of £2,000 per annum as a perpetual tax; (2) whether he is aware that some time 6nce this Company was prepared to make the line for £60,000 and a guarantee of £15,000: and (3) whether the Government sanction the action of the Company in asking for a guarantee from a poor and congested district, as there is sufficient money for making the line?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURThe statements in the first part of the Question 297 are not accurate. The amount of the grant will depend upon the amount of the tender, but in any case the Lough Swilly Railway Company will provide the rolling stock up to a maximum cost of 115,000. Moreover, the interest payable on the County Guarantee will not exceed £250 per annum, and may not even amount to £200. If a railway is to be built at all, the County must give a guarantee, and in this case the amount has been fixed with reference to the necessity of satisfying the provision of the Act of 1896 that the locality should give reasonable assistance to the undertaking. I am not aware of the facts stated in the second paragraph.