§ Mr. SHEEHYasked whether the Midland Railway Company of Ireland, as owners of the Royal Canal, are obliged to fence such parts of their canal property as are dangerous to life, where public roads pass over the canal; and, if so, whether the company will be compelled to fence the plot at Enfield, county Meath, where there are three labourers' cottages and where life has been lost owing to the unprotected condition of the plot on the roadside?
§ Mr. BURNSI cannot undertake to say how far the Midland Great Western Railway Company may be under a legal obligation to fence the Royal Canal. I am advised that the matter is not one in regard to which the Board of Trade have any powers of compulsion, but I will arrange for an officer to visit the place mentioned in the question, and to report to me.