MR. JUSTIN HUNTLY M'CARTHYasked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether his attention has been called to the case of Mrs. Sophia Howe, of Ballycastle, county Mayo; whether he is aware that her late husband, who had served as National School teacher for twenty-two years, had applied for his retiring gratuity, but had died a week or two before the warrant had been made out; and, whether, seeing that Mrs. Howe is left a destitute widow, with seven children, nothing can be done by the Government to secure her the advantages of which she has thus been accidentally deprived?
§ MR. CAMPBELL-BANNERMANThis is one of those cases in which the teacher delayed in sending in his claim until his recovery was almost hopeless; and it has been frequently pointed out that to grant gratuities in such cases would turn the pension scheme into one of life assurance, thus throwing on the fund burdens which it has not been calculated to bear, as well as to defeat one object of the Pension Act by encouraging teachers to hold on to their schools when no longer able to discharge their duties efficiently.