HC Deb 12 December 1906 vol 167 cc356-7
MR. DOLAN (Leitrim, N.)

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, whether, in view of the fact that the estimated cost of the education in England and Wales for the year 1905–6 is £13,139,000 and the cost of the police £2,700,000, whereas in Ireland the estimated cost of public education is £l,393,223 and the estimated cost of the Royal Irish Constabulary and the Dublin Metropolitan Police is £1,405,759, he will take steps to have the proportion readjusted between the expenditure on police and the expenditure on education in Ireland.

MR. BRYCE

The figures mentioned in the Question refer to the estimated expenditure from Imperial funds upon the services of police and education, and not to the total cost of these services. Moreover, as regards education, the Hon. Member contrasts the estimates for primary, secondary, and technical education in England and Wales with the estimates for primary education alone in Ireland. The hon. Member appears to have overlooked the fact that in Ireland almost the whole cost of the services for police and primary education is defrayed from Parliamentary Votes, while in England and Wales nearly one-half of the total cost of primary education and considerably more than one-half of the total cost of police, fall upon local authorities.