§ MR. ELLIS DAVIES (Carnarvonshire, Eifion)I beg to ask the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) what sum, if any, is annually spent out of Imperial funds in improving or encouraging the improvement of the breed of horses and cattle, respectively, in Ireland.
§ THE VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE FOR IRELAND (Mr. T. W. RUSSELL,) Tyrone, S.The public money spent on improving the breed of horses and cattle in Ireland comes from the Endowment Fund of the Department and from local rates raised by the county councils. The respective amounts spent are, approximately: From the Department's Endowment Fund, £7,000 on horse-breeding, and £10,000 on cattle breeding; from the rates raised by county councils for purposes of agriculture and technical instruction, £10,000 for live stock schemes including cattle and horses. It is not clear whether, in the sense in which the hon. Member means the expression "Imperial funds" to be used, that this description applies to the Endowment Fund of the Department. The Endowment Fund consists mainly of Ireland's share of the beer and spirit money which 1063 in England, Wales, and Scotland, is given directly to county councils for agricultural and technical instruction, the remainder of the Irish Church Temporalities Fund and the equivalent of the salaries of abolished Irish judgeships. That fund, moreover, is not made available in Ireland for the local authorities until they raise a rate themselves in aid of agriculture and technical instruction.
§ MR. MOONEY (Newry)In view of the intimation that a new fund will be established in England, may I ask whether the fact that Ireland has already devoted to horse-breeding a share of the Government grant to county councils, which in England and Scotland has been applied to other purposes, will be allowed to militate against Ireland's getting a fair proportion of the new fund?
§ MR. T. W. RUSSELLThe Department will not lose sight of the claims of Ireland.