MR. PATRICK O'BRIENI beg to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether his attention has been called to the fact that the Great Southern and Western, the Waterford and Limerick, and the Waterford and Central Ireland Railway Amalgamation Bill, now before Parliament, does not provide for the establishment of a tribunal, cheap and easy of access in Ireland (other than the Railway and Canal Commissioners), to which Irish traders and passengers can appeal in the event of the Bill becoming law; and will he take steps to provide such a tribunal which can deal with the questions of railway rates, fares and facilities, and other matters which may be in dispute between the Great Southern and Western Railway Company and the trading and travelling public in Ireland.
§ THE FIRST LORD OF THE TREASURY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR,) Manchester, E.The reply to the first paragraph is the affirmative. If I correctly understand the second paragraph, the hon. Member desires to ascertain whether the Government propose to insert a clause in the Irish Railway Amalgamation Bills now before the House which shall provide for the establishment of a special tribunal to deal with rates and fares on the Great Southern and Western Railway of Ireland. In that case the answer to this paragraph is in the negative.