§ MR. W. FIELD (Dublin, St. Patrick)I beg to ask the Vice President of the Committee of Council on Education, whether he is aware that during the last five years in Ireland there has been a falling off in the attendance of science and art students of 26 per cent., whereas within the same period the number of science and art students has increased by about 60 per cent, in England; and whether equal financial assistance will be proportionately granted to Great Britain and Ireland?
§ THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (Mr. ACLAND, York, W.R., Rotherham)The facts are correctly stated in the first part of the question. But during the last two years for which the figures are available there has been a slight increase in the numbers for Ireland. As regards financial assistance, the grants offered to Ireland by the Science and Art Department are more liberal than to Great Britain. The grants for fittings, apparatus, and examples, and those for technical instruction, which have been suspended in Great Britain while the Local Taxation (Customs and Excise) Act of 1890 remains in force, are continued in Ireland, the other grants being the same in both countries.