HC Deb 24 February 1916 vol 80 cc799-800
11. Mr. GINNELL

asked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) if he was in a position to name, as the result of the eighteen years' technical instruction of the Department, the new industries introduced in Ireland since the beginning of the War corresponding to industrial development in this country in that time; the places where such industries are situated; and the approximate number of persons engaged in them?

Mr. BIRRELL

The Department are not charged with responsibility for industries other than rural industries, and are not in a position to give statistics as to the num- ber of new industries introduced into Ireland since the beginning of the War or the number of persons engaged in them. The Department are aware that new industries have been introduced, but the success of the education they provide is to be tested not by the number of such new industries, but by the progress of existing industries.

Mr. GINNELL

Is it not a fact that during the eighteen years of its existence the Department has not founded a single new industry in Ireland?

Mr. BIRRELL

No, but they have contributed very much to new industries being introduced into Ireland.