§ COLONEL NOLAN (Galway, N.)asked the First Lord of the Treasury, How much of the £50,000 allotted last year to Ireland, as an equivalent for the contributions to local funds given in Great Britain, has been spent, or it is estimated will be spent, before the close of the financial year; how much of this has been spent on preliminary surveys, and how much in actual work or in subsidies to the owners of sires; and, if the unexpended balance will be credited to Ireland, and spent on local works in the ensuing year, or, as in England, handed over to Local Authorities to diminish the county cess?
§ THE CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER (Mr. GOSCHEN) (St. George's, Hanover Square)(who replied) said: Of the £50,000 voted last year for public works and industries in Ireland £13,500, being in the nature of grants in aid of various fishing, technical, and agricultural schools, and to the Royal Dublin Society for the improvement of the breed of horses, has been paid over to the Institutions entitled to receive them. Owing to the date at which the Vote was taken it has been found impossible to spend the £6,500 provided for piers and roads in Galway and Mayo, and it is proposed to revoke the sum this year, as it must now be surrendered to the Exchequer. Of the £30,000 provided for surveys and works on the Shannon, Barrow, and Bann, it is anticipated that about £17,000 will have been spent 266 by the 31st instant—namely, £10,500 (about) for works, and the remainder on salaries, surveys, and the preparation of Bills. The unexpended balance of £13,000 must be surrendered to the Exchequer; but it is proposed not only to take a re-Vote for this amount, but also to ask for a further sum of £6,500 for additional works. The total amount included in next year's Estimates for this service represents all that can be usefully spent on the three rivers in the year without further legislation.