Perhaps it is because this is so new to us—or there may be some other reason—but it appears to us that the Minister is altogether too illiberal in his information in connection with these Votes. We think that it would not be unreasonable to expect that the work of the Tribunal since it was established should be reviewed, and that the Minister should state whether or not he is satisfied that it is really fulfilling a useful function. Most traders who are watching for changes in railway charges, watching for some improvement with regard to railway conditions, are not satisfied that there is any reality about the work of this Tribunal, and have given up hope of any reform, certainly of any useful reform, in railway work. Since the Tribunal was established, as far as I know, the only definite thing it has really done has been to complete the amalgamation and the absorption of the lines. It is now four years since it was established, and it is still preparing to face the principal work for which it was appointed, that is, to fix standard charges. Four years after the Act was passed implementation is still in progress; in fact it is not yet well begun. How many generations are to pass before the Act is fully implemented? Is the Minister satisfied that even when it has completed fixing approved standard charges, these charges are going to be useful where they can be applied? He must be aware that in England, which has had standard charges in existence since the beginning of the year, there is a rush of applications to the Tribunal to lower the standard charges below the minimum which the Tribunal has fixed, and this is necessitated by the competition of road transport. If the same thing is going to prevail here, does it not look as if all this work of the Railway Tribunal is so much waste of time? It must be remembered that it is not merely the Railway Tribunal that is engaged in this work; it is a big portion of the Minister's transport staff also.
I think the Minister might have told us how much of the time of his own transport staff is engaged in helping the Tribunal. I personally look upon this Vote as being not a correct Vote at all, because from my knowledge of what is going on the Director of Transport in the Minister's Department is mainly occupied in preparing information for the Tribunal. Several other members of the staff are also engaged in the same work. It does not seem to me altogether correct to put down the amount here as the expenses of the Tribunal when, at the same time, you have another Department engaged in working for the Tribunal. That does not seem to me to be a correct way of representing the cost of the Tribunal. Then you have a state of things prevailing whereby a semi-Government Department, namely, the Creamery Board, has had to notify the Great Southern Railways that, unless they give a reasonable rate for the conveyance of butter, they will be obliged to convey the whole of their traffic by road. Is the Minister satisfied that the Railway Rates Tribunal is the best way of dealing with the railway problem, and that it is going to bring about such a change as is required at the present time in the commercial interests of the country? When they have the standard charges fixed, I understand they will then have to examine the question of through rates, and on that perhaps the Minister will give us some information as to what the position is. To anyone who has any inside knowledge it would look as if there would be a very difficult problem there, because on the Great Northern line and on the British railways the classification is totally different to what has been agreed on in the case of the Great Southern Railways.
I would like to know from the Minister when the Tribunal will be in a position to deal with the claims of the different ports. We all know that under the system that has prevailed up to the present the western ports have not got their fair share of traffic. I would like to know if the adjustment of that is to wait indefinitely, or has the Minister made any calculation as to the time when it can be attended to. There is the further question as to what use is to be made of the light railways that have been amalgamated with the Great Southern Railways. Will the Tribunal be in a position at an early date to give their attention to that problem, to see whether the Great Southern Railways are making the best possible use of these light railways, whether these are to continue to be a source of high rates to traffic on the main lines or whether they cannot be worked more economically than by the system which prevails at present? Under Section 30, subsection (2) of the Act, it would appear that the Tribunal has the power to see that each port gets its reasonable share of traffic from the railways. That is not the case at present, and I would like to know whether any adjustment is likely to be made, and whether any action will be taken by the Tribunal at any time in the near future on that question.
Even when the Tribunal has completed its work and fully implemented the Act of 1924, there will be still the position that the Great Northern, the Sligo and Leitrim. and the Londonderry and Lough Swilly systems as well as the little railway which we discussed yesterday, the Dublin and Blessington line, will still all be outside the control of the Tribunal. Therefore, it seems to me that it does not look as if the traffic problem of the Free State is at all near solution.
It is time, I think, that the Minister made some pronouncement as to whether he considers that the working of the Tribunal is fully justifying its cost. It is not a question merely of the cost of the Tribunal itself, but of the services which are being given to it by the Minister's Transport Department. There is also the question of the very serious cost that it is entailing upon the traders of the country who are interested in this matter. I know that it has been a matter of very serious cost to numbers of people who have been attending the Tribunal. They had been giving it their attention ever since it began to function, and the employment of counsel and the attendance of witnesses at each sitting of the Tribunal is a factor in the working costs of many big concerns in the country at the present time. I hope the Minister will give us as much information as he can on this Estimate. I do not think it is quite fair that we should be asked to vote money for services without having some picture as to what way these Departments are functioning, and as to what their hopes are for the future.
