§ MR. DILLON (Mayo, E.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can now state the names of the men who are to conduct an inquiry into the working of the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction in Ireland; whether he can state the scope of the inquiry, the method of procedure, and the terms of reference; and how long he anticipates the inquiry will last.
(Answered by Mr. Bryce.) The inquiry mentioned in the Question will be conducted by the following gentlemen:—Sir Kenelm Digby, K.C.B., K.C., late Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department; the hon. John Dryden, late Minister of Agriculture in Ontario; Mr. Francis Grant Ogilvie, C.B., Principal Secretary for Technology in the Board of Education; Mr. William Lawson Micks, a member of the Local Government Board for Ireland; and Mr. Stephen J. Brown, Chairman of Kildare County Council. The scope of the inquiry will be gathered from the terms of reference, which are as follows: "To inquire and report whether the provisions of the Act of 1899, constituting the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction, and the methods which the Department has followed in carrying out those provisions, have been shown by experience to be well suited to the conditions of Ireland; whether any, and, if so, what, changes are desirable in these provisions and methods; and to report also upon the relations of the Department to the Council of Agriculture, to the Board of Agriculture, and to the Board of Technical Instruction; upon its relations to local statutory bodies; upon the funds at its disposal and the modes of employing them; and upon its position in regard to other departments, 888 especially those charged with educational functions." The method of procedure will be left to the Gentlemen forming the Committee, who will, I should think, find it desirable to visit some places in Ireland for the purpose of making inquiries on the spot, and who will doubtless give every opportunity to local authorities to communicate their views in the matter. I am unable to say at present how long the inquiry will last.