§ MR. O'MARA (Kilkenny, S.)To ask Mr. Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he will state the principle and give the computation by which the amounts of the Irish and Scotch equivalent grants are obtained, with reference to the Education Act, 1902.
(Answered by Mr. Ritchie.) The estimated net amount of the additional grant in England under the Education 899 Act, 1902, for 1903–4, on the assumption that a full and normal year's provision was required, would be £1,352,000. Scotland and Ireland are to receive grants of £186,000 and £185,000 a year respectively, these sums being the proportionate amounts reckoned on the population of each country compared with that of England, according to the last census. In the case of Scotland there has been included in the general aid grant a further sum of £26,000 for the year, or £13,000 for the half-year, which was guaranteed in 1897 by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in order to maintain the fee grant in Scotland at 12s. a head.