The Minister is probably aware of the fact that the prices for cattle and sheep and other agricultural produce have diminished very considerably and that, in consequence, the incidence of the charge in respect of journeyings to and fro is of much greater weight on the people than in former years. I understand that a proposal was put before the Ministry that, until prices for these products are improved, some reduction should take place in the fares of passengers to and fro, but that the Department refused to do so. I do not know if the Minister is personally aware of anything of that sort having taken place, but perhaps he would look into it. There is one other matter to which I would like to refer. I am not sure whether it is in order to discuss it here. I notice that in page 264 of the Estimates for Public Services, there is mention of repayments by the Cork Borough Corporation and the Electricity Supply Board under Section 15 of the Cork Tramways (Employees' Compensation) Act, 1933. As far as I know, that Act has worked satisfactorily except in one particular case. The particular case to which I refer is that of a man who was the first man to drive a tram on the streets of Cork, some forty years ago, and the last man to bring in his tram to the shed on the night that the Cork Tramways ceased operation. He died, however, before the time came when it was possible for him to make application for compensation. He had given all that service. I have had a good deal of correspondence with the Minister on this matter, as I think he will remember, and it is the only case I know of, of a man who had that number of years' service, and who died before it was possible for him to make application for compensation, where his family have got nothing at all. That man left a widow and some children. In so far as he had earned the right to the compensation, he had a greater claim to it than anybody else. Had the Act been passed a month or two earlier, he would have been able to make a claim and his family would have had the benefit of it.
It is probable the Minister will take the view that once you expand a case of that sort, the door gets wider and wider. In this case, however, I think that what might be called a generous interpretation of the Act might be given. As a matter of fact, I think I supplied the Minister with what amounts to a legal opinion on this case, and pointed out that a similar case was not likely to arise. However, to think that a man, who gave all those years of service, should be debarred from compensation simply because he did not live a month or two longer, seems to me undoubtedly to be a case for investigation. I think that the fact that that man's family is deprived of any compensation is deplorable. It may be said, of course, that, by reason of his death, his expenses and so on ceased to exist and that it did not cost anything to keep him. This, however, is an exceptional case. I may say that the other cases, broadly speaking, were generously dealt with, and at one time it was intended to give compensation only to men who had had a certain number of years' service. This man, however, had the largest number of years' service, and I think that the Minister would be well advised, in a case of that sort, to have the case reopened and reconsidered. No cost will devolve upon the State. The Electricity Supply Board will not be affected in their finances by any case of this kind, and I understand that the Cork Corporation are willing to bear the cost.
