§ MR. O'SHEE (Waterford, W.)To ask the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) how much money has been raised in Ireland since the constitution of the Department for purposes in connection with it by the councils of the counties, county boroughs, and urban districts, taken as a whole up to the most recent date for which the figures are available; how much was so raised in the last financial year; how 1137 much has been expended by the Department on services other than those which existed prior to 1899, during the whole period up to the same date and also during the last financial year; how much of these two last-named amounts were contributed by the Department in aid of the agricultural and technical schemes of local committees, and were otherwise expended respectively; what is the present annual income of the Department from all sources; and how much of it is applicable to services other than those which existed prior to 1899.
(Answered by Mr. T. W. Russell.) The reply to the above Question is as follows: —
| £ | |
| (1) Amount raised since constitution of Department, for purposes in connection with it, by councils of counties, county boroughs, and urban districts, to 31st March, 1907 (see Note) | 308,072 |
| (2) Amount so raised in 1906–7 | 55,333 |
| (3) (a) Amount expended by Department on services other than those which existed prior to 1899 during the whole period to 31st March, 1907 | 1,201,876 |
| (b) Ditto during 1906–7 | 229,161 |
| (4) How much of the two last-named amounts were contributed by the Department in aid of agricultural and technical instruction schemes of local committees— | |
| (a) In the whole period | 468,204 |
| (b) In 1906–7 | 107,255 |
| (c) Otherwise expended in the whole period | 733,672 |
| (d) In 1906–7 | 121,906 |
| (5) Present annual income of the Department from all sources | 350,517 |
| (6) Amount of income applicable to services other than those which existed prior to 1899 | 211,062 |
§ Note. —This amount represents the sum raised by local authorities for the purposes of agriculture and technical instruction under The Agriculture and Technical Instruction (Ireland) Act, 1899, to which purposes it is presumed the Question refers. The amount does not include the uniform assessments made periodically as required on all local authorities under the Diseases of Animals Acts, i.e., the county and county borough councils, for the purposes of the General Cattle Diseases Fund. This fund was established in 1878 in order to recoup local authorities one-half of their expenditure incurred under these Acts, thus lessening the burden of cost in the districts in which disease was most prevalent. There were three such assessments made since the year 1900, the total amount so raised being £47,508. Each assessment was at the rate of ¼d. in the £ on the net annual value of the property in all the administrative counties.