§ MR. SEXTONasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, with regard to his statement that the "last pay day" for teachers of Irish National Schools is the 14th day of the month succeeding the end of the quarter, Whether the Board's Circular of March 1878 fixed the 11th day of the month succeeding the end of the quarter as the last pay day; and, if any change has been made in this rule since the issue of the Circular in question; whether he is aware that the men of the Royal Irish Constabulary are paid on the 3rd or 4th of each month, and that English teachers are paid monthly in advance; and, whether there is any sufficient reason why the Irish National Teachers should not be paid as punctually and as often as the English teachers, or the Irish Police?
§ MR. CAMPBELL-BANNERMANThe Commissioners of National Education inform me that in consequence of the operation of the Pensions Act, and owing to the increasing necessity for strict scrutiny in each case, it has been found necessary to alter the quarter day from the 11th to the 14th of the month. There is no analogy between the case of the Constabulary and that of the teachers. The Constabulary are the immediate servants of the Crown. There is absolute certainty on the day their pay is due, as to the service rendered. The teachers, on the other hand, are immediately appointed and controlled by their managers; and upon the reports of those managers, the Commissioners have to investigate the claims and make the payments. This they suc- 1571 ceed in doing in 17,000 and odd cases within a period of 14 days with absolute punctuality with very few exceptions, and they can hardly be expected to do any more. If English teachers are in any cases paid in advance, it must be by private arrangement with their managers, and not upon the responsibility of the Education Department, which, as I understand, makes only an annual payment in a lump sum to the managers, and that after the termination of the results examinations.