§ MR. M'GOVERN (Cavan, W.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, is he aware that Professor Blair, of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction in Ireland, gave an assurance to the Cavan County Council that, if the County Council raised a rate of one penny per pound, the Council would be given a similar amount by the Department of Agriculture and the Treasury, and that the County Council, acting on this assurance, raised a rate of one penny per pound; can he state whether the assurance of Professor Blair has been carried out, and what is the amount received by the County Council from the Department of Agriculture, and how much from the Treasury, for the years ending 31st March, 1901, and 31st March, 1902.
§ MR. WYNDHAMMr. Blair gave an assurance that if a sum of £400 was contributed from the rates raised under the Technical Instruction Acts of 1889 and 1891, an equivalent amount would be available from the funds administered by the Board of Education, South Kensington, in addition to whatever might be available from the funds administered by the new Department. The county, however, contributed nothing in respect of the year ended 31st March, 1901, since which date the moneys administered by the South Kensington authorities have ceased to be available except in places which previously enjoyed them. There were no schemes in operation in Cavan in the year 1901, and no moneys were 1282 applied from State sources or, as I have stated, from the rates. In respect of 1902, a sum estimated at £1,810 has been allocated for purposes of agricultural instruction. One half of this is contributed from the funds of the new Department, and the remaining half from local rates. For the purposes of technical instruction, a further sum of £920 has been allocated, of which the Department contributes £720.