HC Deb 20 March 1919 vol 113 cc2209-10
18. Lieutenant-Colonel W. GUINNESS

asked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether any decision has yet been received as to the withdrawal of Grants from those technical schools who have refused to give instructions to men who have served in His Majesty's Forces?

Mr. MACPHERSON

Of the two technical instruction committees concerned (Clare county and Tralee urban district) one, that of Tralee, has rescinded the resolution excluding the military from the schools. Where a committee decides that soldiers, or any section of the community, are to be excluded from the benefits of the scheme of technical instruction administered by the committee, the Department's approval of the scheme to which sucha condition attaches will not be continued; and consequently no public moneys, whether Parliamentary Grants or local rates, will be legally applicable to the scheme. This rule will automatically operate in the case of Clare in due course unless the resolution in question is withdrawn.

Lieutenant-Colonel W. GUINNESS

Will the Grant also be withheld from the committees of the county borough of Cork, the county borough of Limerick, Kilkenny,and Queen County, who have refused to provide special courses for soldiers pending demobilisation?

Mr. MACPHERSON

I must look into all these individual cases. These are the only two with which I am acquainted.

Lieutenant-Colonel W. GUINNESS

Would the right hon. Gentleman look at the answer to a question given on 27th February?

Mr. MACPHERSON

Certainly. This rule will apply to those cases.