§ MR. CAREW (Meath, S.)I beg to ask Mr. Attorney General for Ireland whether he can explain why the magistrates at petty sessions held in Ballivor, county Meath, on 12th January last, dismissed four summonses brought by Toad contractors, acting under the county surveyor's instructions, to compel the defendants to cut and trim their hedges along the roadside; is he aware that, while the small occupiers obey the surveyor's orders, some of the largest owners neglect to do so, to the injury of the roads in the district; and whether he will take steps, by legislation or otherwise, to empower magistrates to enforce obedience to the surveyor's orders by both occupiers and owners.
§ THE ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR IRELAND (Mr. ATKINSON,) Londonderry, N.The four summonses referred to were brought against two defendants, one of whom is a landowner and the other a tenant farmer. Both defendants had endeavoured to comply with the road contractor's requirements to a certain extent. The summonses were dismissed on technical grounds and mainly because the notices which the moving party is bound to serve, and upon which the preceedings were founded, were informal. The law is clearly laid down in such cases in Section 9, Sub-section 8, of the 14 & 15 Vict., cap. 92, and no further legislation is called for.