§ MR. HUGH LAW (Donegal, W.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he is aware that the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company have complained of the manner in which the Board of Works allowed the contractors to carry out the contract for the construction of the railway from Letterkenny to Burton-port, built by free grant under the provisions of the Railways (Ireland) Act, 1896; whether, seeing that the Board of Works have refused to join in the arbitration applied for by the railway company under the clause in the agreement between the Board of Works and the railway company, and that the railway company have complained that the rolling stock provided by the Board of Works is inadequate, and that the Board of Works have refused to provide additional equipment, and in view of the loss to the public in the district served by the Burtonport Railway, and the increase of liability of the ratepayers in the guaranteeing area, he will take steps to prevent the interference of the Board of Works with the nomination by the Board of Trade of an arbitrator to deal with the matters in question.
(Answered by Mr. Walter Long.) This is a matter which comes within the cognisance of my hon. friend the Secretary to the Treasury, to whom I beg to refer the hon. Member.