§ Mr. HUGH LAWasked the Vice-President of the Department of Agriculture (Ireland) whether he has received resolutions from several county councils in Ireland demanding that the additional money proposed by Clause 47 of the Irish Land Bill to be placed annually at the disposal of the Department of Agriculture for the development of agriculture and kindred industries in the nine congested counties, as defined by Clause 44, shall be applied to wards supplementing the funds of the com- 1448W mittees of agriculture and technical instruction in those counties, and shall be administered by the said committees; and whether, in the event of the Bill becoming law, he will be prepared to accede to the wishes of the county councils?
§ Mr. T. W. RUSSELLA resolution of the kind referred to has been received from county Donegal. This resolution was forwarded by the Donegal County Committee of Agriculture to the committees of the eight other counties containing congested areas, and four of these counties have adopted the resolution. Of the £19,000 proposed to be allocated to the Department it should be remembered that only £7,000 are in reality an addition to the funds of the Department for this purpose, as £12,000 per annum are already being spent on special schemes in congested districts. The extended area will in all probability absorb the extra £7,000.