§ MR. DILLON (Mayo, E.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can state the reasons for the alterations contained in the revised Estimate for the Ireland Development Grant.
§ MR. CHERRYIn the estimate for the Ireland Development Grant which was prepared early in December last the estimated balance to the credit of the account on 1st April, 1908, was shown to be £91,538. In May last, when the account for the year ending 31st March, 1908, was made up, it was found that the actual balance in hand was but £51,135. The difference arose mainly from the fact that in the last quarter of the financial year claims amounting to £37,031 were received from the Commissioners of National Education on account of training colleges under private management, and salaries of assistant teachers in national schools which had not been taken into account in estimating the balance in December. It therefore became necessary to prepare a revised Estimate for the current year, showing proposed expenditure at the reduced total of £236,477. The subheads of the Estimate in which a reduction has been made are as follows:—Subhead C. (National School Buildings)—£25,000, being an instalment of a grant of £70,000, reduced to £5,000, on the understanding that the balance of the £70,000 will be made available in future years, and that the unexpended balance of £35,455 on Vote 14, Class I. for 1907–8 will be available to meet expenditure on school buildings in the current year. Subhead H. (Newry, Keady, and Tynan Railway).—It is doubtful whether the promoters of this railway will be in a posision to make good their claim to any portion of the promised grant. Provision is made for £2,318 instead of £23,950. Subhead K. (Arklow Harbour).—Grant reduced from £10,362 to £8,000, the latter sum being now considered sufficient to meet expenditure during the year. In the case 1668 of two of the subheads, the provision has been somewhat increased as compared with the first estimate, namely:—Subhead B. (Marlborough Street Training College).—Grant increased from £2,792 to £4,277, the latter being the actual balance unexpended of the total grant of £50,000. Subhead L. (Wicklow Harbour).—Grant increased from £1,536 to £3,822, the latter being the actual balance of the complete grant. The work is appoaching completion.