§ MR. BOLANDI beg to ask the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that there are thirteen cables between the Blaskett Islands and Scariff Island on the Kerry coast, and that in the outer Ballinskelligs Bay of these cables ten are laid to America, two to England, and one to France, that a Commission was appointed to protect these cables in time of war, and that the capital sunk in the working of these cables amounts to about,£20,000,000; and whether, seeing that these cables are frequently broken by steam trawlers, which come in at night and trawl in the shallow water where these cables overhang, and that on a recent occasion a cable steamer spent fourteen days grappling for a cable which was broken by a trawler, he will represent to the proper authorities that this portion of the coast should be protected from the illegal trawling indulged in by these boats.
§ MR. SYDNEY BUXTONNo re-presentations as to damage having been caused by trawlers to the cables referred to in the hon. Member's question have reached me until quite recently, when one of the companies concerned made complaint on the subject. Inquiries are being made, and if it should prove that the circumstances warrant it, I will make representations to the proper authorities with a view to any steps which may be practicable being taken for the protection of these cables.