asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether his attention has been directed to proposals formulated in Northern Ireland for the amalgamation and co-ordination of the transport services in that area; whether these proposals involve the sections of the Great Northern Railway and other railway undertakings operated within this State; and, if so, whether he is in a position to make a statement regarding them.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Northern Ireland Transport Proposals.
The proposals to which the Deputy refers do not involve the sections of the Great Northern Railway in our jurisdiction. This is also the position in relation to the other railway undertakings which operate on both sides of the Border.
asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether he has taken or contemplates taking any steps regarding the position of the workers employed in the railway workshops at Dundalk in the event of the business carried on in these workshops being transferred to Northern Ireland consequent upon the reorganisation of the transport services in that area; and, if so, whether he is in a position to outline the action already taken and the action proposed regarding this matter.
I cannot see that any useful purpose would be served by attempting to reply to a hypothetical question of this character. I am not aware of any proposal to transfer elsewhere the operations carried on at the railway workshops in Dundalk.
The question may be hypothetical, but the proposal to bring portion of this railway system under the control of the Six Counties is not hypothetical, and the prospect of the main workshops of that company being transferred is a definite possibility which should be investigated by the Minister. I suggest to him that, in the light of the livelihood of many hundreds of workers in the Dundalk workshops, regard should be given to that possibility, to which reference was made in the course of the debates in this House when the Transport Act was going through.