This new Irish Department of State grew out of a demand formulated after
long inquiry and discussion by a voluntary Irish committee representing
both Unionist and Nationalist opinion. It was established in 1899, and
now commands the large endowment of 197,000 pounds a year, with a
capital sum of over 200,000 pounds. The annual endowment is clear of all
charges for offices and staff, which are on the Civil Service Estimates.
Its head is a Minister responsible to Parliament, but associated with
him are Boards of Agriculture and Technical Instruction, two-thirds of
which are elected respectively by County and Borough Councils. Without
their concurrence no expenditure can be undertaken, and local work is
largely carried on through committees appointed by these Councils. The
people at large are therefore intimately and responsibly associated with
the work of the Department, the annual meetings of which form a kind of
industrial Parliament, where the whole economic organisation of Ireland
can be reviewed, debated, and developed. The Department works by
teaching, by inquiry, by experiment, and has an immense field of
activity in dealing with cattle diseases, the improvement of stock, the
control of creameries, the marketing of produce, etc. It has also
brought facilities for technical instruction into every important centre
of population.