§ MR. O'MALLEY (Galway, Connemara)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether the fines imposed upon persons in the Carna district of Connemara for the cutting of sea-weed will be remitted, and whether compensation will be made to those who have been imprisoned for the like offence; whether the Board of Trade will take the necessary steps to prevent landlords in future from prosecuting their tenants for the cutting of seaweed, which is the property of the Crown.
§ THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRADE (Mr. GERALD BALFOUR,) Leeds, CentralThe Board of Trade were not in any way parties to the 1160 proceedings referred to, and I have no information as to the circumstances in which the defendants were fined or imprisoned. Any Question on the subject should be addressed to the Irish Government. The Board of Trade cannot undertake to prevent prosecutions, but whenever their attention is called to an assertion of rights of property over Crown foreshore, they I take steps to safeguard the interests of the Crown.