§ MR. HAYDENI beg to ask the President of the Board of Trade whether he is aware that at an inquiry held recently in Castlerea into the circumstances of an accident to a train on the Midland Great Western of Ireland Railway Company, representatives of the Press were excluded; and, if so, will he say whether this is in accordance with precedent; and if so, whether, in view of the public interest at stake, he will direct that in future at all such inquiries representatives of the Press shall be admitted.
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURInquiries such as that to which the hon. Member refers are held, primarily, for the information of the Board of Trade, and it is at the discretion of the officer holding the inquiry to decide whether he will allow representatives of the Press to attend. Under ordinary circumstances the Board's officers do admit the Press to their inquiries, but where, as in the present case, allegations have been made that point to the possibility of legal proceedings becoming necessary, the officer may deem it his duty to hold his inquiry in private, and it would be 961 undesirable to fetter his discretion. The report of the inquiry will, of course, be ultimately presented to Parliament and issued to the Press.