§ Mr. O'SHEEasked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) whether he is aware that the Board of Agriculture in England, with the consent of the Treasury, have erected and equipped a factory for the manufacture of beet sugar, and that the Treasury have agreed to make a Grant of £150,000 or more for that purpose; and whether, as Ireland is mainly dependent on agriculture, he has applied, or will apply, to the Treasury for a similar Grant to encourage the growing of beet in Ireland for the manufacture of sugar?
§ Mr. DUKEI am informed that a loan of £ 125,000 from the Development Fund has been sanctioned for the purchase of an estate in England with a view to a scheme for the growth of sugar beet, but that no Grant has been made. Possession of the estate will, I am told, be obtained in the present month, but it is doubtful whether a sugar beet factory can be erected before the end of the War. The Department of Agriculture do not intend to apply for a Grant or loan for the purpose of developing sugar beet growing in Ireland, pending the result of the experiment in England.