§ MR. O'SHAUGHNESSY (Limerick, W.)To ask the Postmaster-General if he will state the amount the Waterford and Limerick Railway Company, previous to amalgamation with the Great Southern and Western Railway Company, were receiving from the postal authorities for the carriage of the mails between Limerick and Tralee; how much the latter company now require in order to continue to run trains for the carriage of the mails in this district at hours suitable to the postal authorities; how much have the authorities agreed to pay; and if he will state the amount the company are now receiving for the carriage of some of the mails in this district, and what does the service comprise.
(Answered by Lord Stanley.) The payment to the Waterford, Limerick, and Western Railway Company for conveyance of mails previous to the amalgamation of that company with the Great Southern and Western Railway Company was £1,500 a year, for which a suitable train service was provided. The agreement was terminated by the company at about the time of the amalgamation, and the Great Southern and Western Company demanded £7,161 a year for the maintenance of the former trains. My predecessor was prepared to continue payment on the former terms; but, in view of the refusal of the company to reduce their demand for a suitable service, he had no alternative but to send those mails by railway for which suitable trains were run by the company for their own traffic, and to make the best provision possible for forwarding by road the remainder of the mails. Negotiations are still proceeding with the company as to the payment for the conveyance of those 1478 mails which are now sent by railway. The present service by railway includes the conveyance of the day mails in each direction, of the night mails for places between Tralee and Templeglantine, and also of the up-night mails to Limerick on week days.