274 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, Etc., FOR IRELAND. 



Boards consist of 14 and 23 members respectively, of whom two, as already 

 noted, are ex-ojficio, four are nominated by the Department, and the re- 

 mainder are appointed either by the Council of Agriculture or directly by 

 the Councils of the County Boroughs and Urban Districts, whilst the Com- 

 missioners of National Education and the Intermediate Education Board 

 each send one representative to the Board of Technical Instruction. The 

 members of the Council and of the two Boards are unpaid, and receive only 

 the usual travelling and subsistence allowances when engaged upon their 

 official duties. In addition to special advisory powers, the two Boards, as 

 was pointed out by Mr. Gerald Balfour, the first President of the Depart- 

 ment, occupy precisely the same position in reference to the Department as 

 regards financial matters that the House of Commons holds in reference to 

 the Government of the day. No money can be spent, except as regards a 

 few mmor matters, without their consent. Of the Department's annual 

 income of p^ 166,000, the sum of ;6^5 5,000 is ear-marked for technical instruc- 

 tion. This sum is to be divided into portions, to be determined every three 

 years by the Department, with the concurrence of the Board of Technical 

 Instruction. As regards one portion, the Board's functions then cease. 

 This portion is divided among the six County Boroughs, viz. : — Belfast, 

 Cork, Dublin, Limerick, Londonderry, and Waterford, according to their 

 population, " in or about the time of distribution," and is applied by the 

 Councils of these boroughs (through a Technical Instruction Committee), 

 as they think fit, to any scheme of Technical education which meets with 

 the approval of the Department. The other portion is to be appHed for 

 the purposes of Technical Instruction elsewhere than in the County Bor- 

 oughs, subject to the concurrence of the Board of Technical Instruction, who 

 thus occupy with regard to this portion the position of the Department in 

 reference to the other portion. 



The Agricultural Board has a power of veto over the expenditure of the 

 greater part of the Department's funds. As already explained, these funds 

 consist of a capital sum of about i^200,ooo, and an annual income of 

 ;^ 1 66,000. Of the capital sum, ;^ 15,000 was assigned by the Act to the 

 Royal Veterinary College of Ireland,* and ;;^ 10,000 was allocated to certain 

 purposes in connection with the development of the Munster Institute. Of 

 the annual income of ;£" 166,000, the sum of iJ^5 5,000 is, as already men- 

 tioned, to be devoted to Technical Instruction, and ;^ 10,000 to Sea Fisheries. 

 The residues — about ;:^ 175,000 (capital sum) and iJ" 10 1,000 (annual sum) — 

 are, after meeting the cost of a few minor items, to be devoted by the 

 Department " for the purposes of Agriculture and other rural industries or 

 Sea Fisheries," subject to the concurrence of the Agricultural Board. It 

 may be noted here that it is specifically provided in the Act that none of 

 the funds thus placed at the disposal of the Department are to be spent in 

 Congested Districts, which is especially provided for by the Congested Dis- 

 tricts Board. To prevent, however, any overlapping of the work of this 

 Board and the Department, it is provided that the latter may undertake any 

 of the Board's powers and duties at its request, but any expense which is 

 incurred in performing these functions must be provided by the Board or 

 from local sources, t 



* The Royal Veterinary College of Ireland was incorporated by Charter in 1895, but was 

 formally opened only in igoo. It has no power of granting Diplomas, but is affiliated to the 

 Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. 



t The Agricultural and Technical Instruction (Ireland) Bill, 1902, which at time of writing 

 (June, 1902,) awaits the Royal Assent, will remove the difficulties referred to in the text. 



