§ MR. LONSDALEI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether, in view of the claim put forward by the General Council of the County Councils of Ireland that the Department of Agriculture shall be totally separated from the English Government and be nominated by the General Council of Irish Councils, and be answerable to and under its control, he will inquire into the history and present composition of the Nationalist organisation making this claim, whose right to speak for the whole of the Irish councils has been formally repudiated by most of the county councils in the North of Ireland.
MR. BRYCEMy time is so fully occupied by urgent Questions of practical moment that I cannot spare any for the historical investigation upon which the hon. Member invites me to enter.
§ MR. LONSDALEThe investigation can hardly be considered historical, as it would only go back a few months.