§ MR. GINNELLI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland will the Return of local contributions ordered by the House for the purpose of discussion on the Vote for the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction in Ireland be ready in time for that purpose; will he explain the reason for delaying or witholding it; and will he say who is responsible for the fact that for more than a fortnight after the House had given the order for this purpose no steps had been taken to prepare the information.
MR. BRYCEThe Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction will complete this Return without delay as soon as the necessary information has been received from the local bodies concerned. There is, I am informed, no foundation for the suggestion that the information is being withheld or delayed. The Order of the House reached me on April 6th and I at once forwarded it through my Dublin office to the Department. As soon as the Department were satisfied that the required particulars could not be fully supplied without communicating with the local authorities, circulars were prepared and issued to those bodies on April 14th. Ninety-seven out of the 115 local bodies have supplied the necessary information, and the Department are pressing the remaining eighteen for replies.