§ SIR CHARLES LEWIS (Antrim, N.)asked the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, Whether, in the year 1875, the teachers of model schools in Ireland were allowed to participate in the sum placed by the Government at the disposal of the National Educational Commissioners for paying results fees to the teachers of National Schools, and in 1878 £4 per annum was added to the salary of each assistant; whether the results fees and this increase of salary were granted on the condition that one-third of the pupils' school fees should be paid into the Treasury, and that this proportion should never be less than £2,000; whether, in consequence of the amalgamation effected by the Commissioners of the different departments in some of the smaller model schools, and the reduction in the number of monitors and pupil teachers in others, the payment to the Treasury for the year ending 31st March, 1887, fell short of the £2,000 by only £160; whether the Commissioners have consequently deducted 20 per cent from the proportion of pupils' fees due to the teachers for the quarter ending 31st March, 1887, and £4 per annum from the salary of each assistant; and whether the Government will interfere to prevent so large an encroachment on the small emoluments of the teachers?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY (Mr. A. J. BALFOUR) (Manchester, E.), in reply, said, the statements in the first paragraph of the Question were correct. The school fees payable at the present rate for the last financial year fell short of the £2,000 by £150. This deficiency was owing to the decrease in the number of pupils. The effect, however, financially was favourable instead of unfavourable to the teachers, as the fees were divided among a smaller number.