They actually paid in or about £11,000, and, in addition to that, they had to pay upwards of £1,000 in order to complete the sales. Those lands were bought with the idea, I suppose, of building new offices or stores or accommodation for engines, but the arrangements were never proceeded with, and if the Company attempted to sell the land now they would not get £200. That is the way the finances are squandered, and why should we be called upon to vote £5,000? That is one of the reasons why the Donegal employees are cast on to the roadside. That is not the only item of financial bungling that the directors have indulged in. Not so very long ago the directors paid approximately £9,000 to one of their own railway directors for a couple of secondhand boats which were publicly declared to be half rotten. When the people in Donegal and Derry saw that the Company were going to pay £9,000 for these boats, it was the laughing-stock of the whole area. I believe the people were justified in laughing at this example of mismanagement, because only a short time has elapsed since they paid the £9,000 for the boats to ply on Lough Swilly, and we now find that they are both out of commission and they are not being used for coastal service owing to the fact that it would not be safe to travel in them. I believe public funds should not be voted in order to bolster up incompetency on the part of either the management or the directors of that particular railway.
The length of railway altogether is 99 miles, and in order to maintain that length of railway we find that there are a general manager, a locomotive superintendent, an assistant locomotive superintendent, an accountant, and a permanent way engineer. Railway companies, like the Great Northern or the Southern Company, can find competent railway managers in Ireland, and they can find competent engineers who are Irishmen, but we find, so far as this particular Company is concerned, that two of the chief officials are Englishmen and one is a Scotchman. When, however, it comes to effecting economies on this line, we find that these gentlemen from England and Scotland must not be inconvenienced, but the mere Irish from County Donegal must be thrown on the roadside. I want to know from Donegal Deputies of all Parties whether they are going to stand for that, for the policy of the directors of the Company throwing Donegal men on the roadside while the Company is top-heavy, so far as managerial expenses are concerned?
It has been alleged by the Company that some of these men with whose services they are dispensing are redundant, that there is no necessity for them as there is no work. If there is no work, as the Company alleges, who is responsible for it? The management, or rather the mismanagement, of the Company is responsible. Last May dismissal notices were issued to nine employees, but as a result of negotiations between one of the railway trade unions and the management it was decided to suspend the notices for two months, and a promise was given that a cancellation would be favourably considered. Before any of the men were dismissed two men resigned and, consequently, one would have thought that if the Company were going to pursue their policy they would only dispense with the services of seven. Instead of that we find that they are going ahead with these dismissals, and these nine men are going to be thrown on the roadside to-morrow. Some of them have comparatively long service. Some have families. They will have to vacate the Company's houses, leave the railway, and look for employment elsewhere owing to the blundering tactics of a Company to whom we are asked to vote £5,000 to bolster up incompetency on their part. There is no getting away from the fact that there is wild extravagance on the part of the Company, and I have already quoted a few cases to prove their incompetency and unbusinesslike methods, which one would not expect from a board of directors.
I would point out that we are asked to subsidise a Company controlled by five directors, the majority of whom reside outside the Free State. The majority were no friends of the people who were looking for Irish freedom during the trouble. Apart from that, we are asked to bolster up their inefficiency. What experience have they to control the policy of the Company? They have no particular railway knowledge. Their only knowledge in that respect is that they have a few hundred pounds invested in the Company. I put it to Deputies, if they take the case of a wholesale drapery firm in Dublin, into which four or five directors who know nothing about drapery work are put, it will only be a matter of time before that firm becomes bankrupt. It is the same with the Company. I have quoted cases, and other cases will be quoted by other Deputies, to show that those connected with the management are inefficient. The Minister may say, when replying, that the services of some of these men can be dispensed with, as they are redundant, but has the Minister nothing to say to the extravagant salaries paid to men at the head of affairs, cross-Channel men? It is true that the Minister sent an inspector to the railway some time ago, but he did not report in regard to the expenditure of £11,000 or £12,000 in regard to waste ground, nor in regard to the loss incurred in the purchase of those two boats.
I appeal to the House to insist on the Minister, before giving this subsidy, setting up a committee of inquiry to investigate the whole working of the line, and, in the meantime, those employees who are to be turned out on the road to-morrow should be retained in the company's service until the committee has reported. The Minister may say that these men's services could be dispensed with. I would point out to him that in 1920 there were employed by this company 89 stationmasters and clerks, and that that figure will now be reduced to 49. Although it has been pointed out to the Minister by certain directors and by the management that everything is right, so far as the Company is concerned, I know from inner knowledge of the Company that things are not right, and that this House would be ill-advised to vote money until a proper inquiry is made into the whole situation. A few days ago there was a meeting held of employees from all parts of the line, and the following resolution was passed:—
"This meeting deplores and condemns the brutal and unreasonable action of the Londonderry and Lough Swilly Railway Company in its refusal to consider any proposals involving a mitigation of the terrible hardship being inflicted upon the stationmasters and clerks who are being dismissed, and on their families and dependents, because of follies and bungling for which they are not responsible.
"The meeting realises that the only argument which the people responsible for these unnecessary dismissals recognise is the strike, but, being painfully cognisant of the fact that a strike at this stage may mean ruin to the line, and having a deeper interest in its welfare than its directors and management, feels reluctantly compelled to withhold action for the moment, but calls upon the Free State and Northern Governments to institute an immediate inquiry into the working of this company in the interests of equity and efficiency, and to give early and favourable consideration to the claims of our disemployed colleagues."
If the Company are allowed to proceed along the line upon which they have been proceeding for some time past there is no getting away from the fact that a crisis will be reached and that a strike will occur. There would be a strike to-morrow were it not for the fact that a strike at this particular juncture would probably mean the closing down of the line and it would probably not be reopened. While the employees are more concerned about the running of the line than the manager and directors, this House, with its eyes closed and blindfolded in regard to what is going on there, is asked to vote £5,000. The employees are not afraid to strike, but if the Minister is adamant in his refusal to set up a committee of inquiry you will possibly see a strike, the line closed down, and neither this House nor the newspapers can blame the employees, but they can blame the Minister and Deputies here for not insisting on a committee being set up to inquire into the working of the whole concern.
