§ MR. P. O'BRIEN (Kilkenny)On behalf of the honourable Member for the St. Patrick Division of Dublin, I beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury whether he can state how many times, and for how many days, the Railway Commissioners sat in the year 1897, how many cases were tried, how much those sittings cost, and what was the amount of reduction in rates and the increased accommodation obtained by traders?
§ MR. HANBURYThe Railway Commissioners in 1897 sat in court on 47 days and heard 41 cases. The sums voted for the expenses of the Railway and Canal Commission amount to about £7,000 a year. The Commission is presided over by a judge of the High Court of England, Scotland, or Ireland, as the case may be. As to the nature and effect of the decisions of the Commissioners in 1897, the honourable Member will find all the available information in their ninth annual Report, issued as a Parliamentary Paper in the present Session.