§ MR. WILLIAM ABRAHAM (Cork County, N.E.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he has received a resolution from the Cork County Council calling attention to the failure of the Great Southern and Western Railway Company, jointly with the Fishguard and Rosslare Railways and Harbours Company, to carry out the engagements given by them at the passing of the Railway Amalgamation Act, 1900, to construct a direct line from Cork to Fermoy and also to construct a bridge connecting the railway lines south of the Lee with the 1255 Great Southern and Western Railway Company's system; and whether the Government have taken, or will take, any action to secure the fulfillment of the conditions laid down by Parliament in this matter.
§ MR. WYNDHAMThe engagement to construct the bridge was conditional upon the co-operation of the local authorities and the railway companies west of Cork. I am not aware that the Fishguard and Rosslare Company has made any efforts to obtain such co-operation. The obligation to construct the Cork and Fermoy line has not been carried out. Parliament was asked in 1902 to sanction the substitution of another scheme, but the Bill was not passed. No further steps have since been taken. The period for completion of the Cork to Fermoy line will expire on the 1st August next, when the Company's powers to build the railway must necessarily lapse. I will confer with my hon. friend the Financial Secretary to the Treasury on the subject.