MR. J. P.O'BRIEN (Tipperary, N.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, if he will explain why the prospectus issued by the Department of Agriculture and Technical Education in Ireland for 1902 makes no provision for free places in the Albert Institution in Dublin; whether he is aware that the prospectus issued by the Department for 1901 provided for Free Resident Students; whether he has read the Memorandum issued by the President of the Board, in July, 1901, addressed to "The Irish Farmer and his Friends," which states (pages 17 and 18), that for every rural district scholarships or bursaries shall be provided which will enable boys leaving the primary schools to obtain their training in the secondary school free, and for the extension of that system for the education of exceptional boys up to the Royal College of Science and the University. And, having regard to the fact that the prospectus of the Department for this year demands fees amounting to £27 for the Summer and Winter Sessions at the Albert Institute; whether he will provide that boys who have qualified for admission to the Institute trusting to 870 the regulations of the President of the Department shall not be deprived of the priority of their labour by the original prospectus being departed from.
§ MR. WYNDHAMThe prospectus for 1902 already issued is a preliminary prospectus only. A supplementary prospectus dealing with the new arrangements as to scholarships is about to be issued. The reply to the second paragraph is in the affirmative. The main feature of the new Scheme will be the substitution of County Scholarships aided partly by funds of the Department and of the County Councils, for the 25 free places hitherto provided. The number of places, free so far as the student is concerned, will, it is expected, be considerably larger under the new arrangements than under the old system.