§ 50. Mr. MAURICE HEALYasked the Postmaster-General whether he is yet in a position to state the result of his negotiations with the Great Southern and Western Railway Company with reference to expediting the transit of the mails between Amiens Street and Kingsbridge; whether he will draw the attention of the directors of that company to the statement made by the chairman of the line at the meeting of the company on the 15th February, 1896, when the question of the acquisition and construction of the Drumcondra link line, which cost £400,000, was being discussed, that its construction would enable the company to run the distance from Kingstown to Inchicore in little more than half the time then occupied, and also to the speech of the chairman to the shareholders on the 8th August, 1896, when he repeated the same statement and commented adversely on the time consumed between Kingstown and Kings-bridge, and whether he will say what improvement has been yet produced by the expenditure of the £400,000?
Mr. PIKE PEASEIt is not probable that we shall be able to obtain a definite reply from the company at present. The statement attributed to the chairman of the company in 1896 was made to the shareholders and not to the Postmaster-General. It does not come within the province of the Postmaster-General to criticise a railway company's expenditure.