§ MR. AMBROSE (Mayo, W.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that a Select Committee was appointed in the Session 1884–5 to inquire into the natural resources and the present condition of manufacturing and productive industries in Ireland, and to report how those natural resources may be more fully developed, and how those industries may be encouraged and extended; and that the Committee was unable in the time at their disposal to take sufficient evidence to enable them to agree upon specific recommendations, but recommended that a Committee be appointed in the next session of Parliament to continue the inquiry; and, if so, whether, in view of the importance of such inquiry and its bearing on the future prospects of Ireland, he will see that the Committee is re-appointed.
§ MR. WYNDHAMIt is not intended, nor is it necessary, to re-appoint the Committee of 1885. The Recess Committee has since made a special study of the industrial position and needs of Ireland. The results of their investigations have been published. The Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction, created by the Act of 1899, has been furnished with funds and machinery for the purpose of carrying out such inquiries, and is constantly 1293 engaged, through its experts and with the aid of advisory committees representative of particular industries, in conducting investigations much more direct and definite than would be possible by a Parliamentary Committee. The Department has already published the results of much of the economic information so far acquired, and is constantly supplementing these publications.