§ SIR T. G. ESMONDE (Kerry, W.)I beg to ask the Vice-President of the Agricultural Department for Ireland whether his attention has been called to a motion adopted on the 5th instant by the Municipal Council of Dublin urging upon the Lord Lieutenant the desirability of transferring the control and manage- 938 ment of the Science and Art Department in Ireland to the new Agricultural and Industrial Department; and, whether he could inform the House if it is the intention of the Lord Lieutenant to exercise at an early date his own powers under Section 2 (1), (e), (f), (g) of the Agricultural and Technical Instruction (Ireland) Act, 1899.
§ MR. PLUNKETTMy attention has been called to the motion referred to in the question. It is the intention of the Lord Lieutenant to transfer to the Board of Agriculture and Technical Instruction, as from April 1st, the Science and Art Department's institutions in Dublin—namely, the Royal College of Science, the Museum, the School of Art, the National Library and the Botanical Gardens; but the grants in aid of science and art teaching will continue, for the present, to be administered, as heretofore, from South Kensington.