§ MR. REDDY (King's Co, Birr)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he can state what are the conditions under which the Great Southern and Western Railway Company of Ireland were handed over the Clara and Banagher Railway in 1895, in view of the fact that the Treasury forewent a loan of £30,000 advanced by them, and that a sum of £28,346 was raised by a guarantee on the barony of Garrycastle for the construction of the railway; and will he state whether any guarantee was exacted from the Great Southern and Western Railway Company regarding the train service in the district.
§ MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAINSection 15 of the Great Southern and Western Railway Act, 1895, provided for the transfer of the railway to the Great Southern and Western Company "subject to all the conditions, obligations and liabilities imposed on or of the Clara and Banagher Company with respect to the maintenance, repair, management, regulation, user, and working of the undertaking," but the obligations referred to do not include any provisions for a specific number of trains, and no special guarantee was required by Parliament from the company on this point.
§ MR. FIELDHas Parliament no power of control so as to compel a railway company to provide proper facilities for communication?
§ MR. AUSTEN CHAMBERLAINThere are no special powers reserved in the company's Act, and the case therefore comes under the general provisions of the law.