§ MR. KNOXI beg to ask the Secretary to the Treasury—(1) will he explain on what ground the request of the Commissioners of National Education in Ireland, that the Irish Fee Grant should, for 1896–97, be nine-eightieths of the English grant, has been refused; and (2) whether there is any means by which the Commissioners can, without the consent of the Treasury, place their demands before Parliament?
§ MR. HANBURYThere has been no such refusal as is suggested in this Question. The Estimate first submitted by the Education Board put the grant for 1896–97 at nine-eightieths of the original estimate of the English grant for 1895–96, but it took the English grant of the past instead of the current year, an arrangement obviously disadvantageous to Ireland. Instead of this, the Treasury, with the concurrence of the Irish Office, now suggested that the new grant should not be calculated on the equivalent basis, but should be made a capitation grant as in England. The immediate effect of this proposal was to increase the estimate by about £12,000, and the Education Board accordingly accepted it, adding that they did so "without prejudice to their claim for nine-eightieths of the English fee grant," which meant, I presume, that they would claim to adopt in future whichever system might produce the largest grant. There have, therefore, been no such demands as the hon. Member suggests except this first estimate of the Education Board, if that can be called a demand. The answer to the last paragraph of the Question is that subordinate Departments of the Government can only approach Parliament officially through the Minister represent-in them. As to whether in this particular case unofficial methods of doing so may be employed, the hon. Member does not I think require information.