§ Mr. JOHN O'DONNELLasked the Vice-President of the Department of 1124W Agriculture (Ireland) whether he will state how many officials are employed at the head offices, Merrion-street, Dublin; what is the aggregate amount paid in salaries and expenses annually; what are the salaries and expenses each of the assistant secretary in respect of agriculture, and of the assistant secretary in respect of technical education; how many of the chief officials are Catholics; how have all these officials been appointed; and what are the conditions of their appointment?
§ Mr. T. W. RUSSELLA list of the officials of the Department is given in Thorn's Directory, pages 870-1. The amounts provided for salaries and expenses of the Department's staff are shown in the Estimates. These officials have either been appointed by the Department, with the assent of the Treasury, assigned for duty in the Department's offices by the Civil Service Commissioners, or transferred to the Department under the Agricultural and Technical Instruction (Ireland) Act of 1889. Their appointments are held on the usual conditions which apply to the Civil Service. I decline to make inquiries or give returns respecting the religion of members of the Department's staff.