§ MR. R. M. DANE (Fermanagh, N.)I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury, as representing the Postmaster-General, whether any arrangement has yet been arrived at with the Great Northern Railway Company of Ireland for the dispatch of the early mail now detained close upon two hours at Dundalk, to the serious inconvenience of the inhabitants of a large district in the North of Ireland?
§ THE SECRETARY TO THE TREASURY (Mr. R. W. HANBURY,) PrestonNo arrangement has yet been made with the Great Northern Railway Company of Ireland for the earlier despatch of the day mail train from Dundalk to Enniskillen, now leaving at 9 a.m. The alteration cannot be made without additional expense, and the payment which the Company have mentioned is of itself scarcely warranted, having regard to the number of letters which would be accelerated and to the present outlay on the district. But the matter is complicated by the fact that the Company are demanding a revision of the terms of their mail contract, which includes the Dundalk and Enniskillen day mail service, and that they decline to give a guarantee that even a much higher payment than they have named for the acceleration may not be claimed in connection with the revision. For the present, therefore, no decision can be arrived at respecting the acceleration of the Enniskillen day mail.