§ MR. WILLIAM ABRAHAM (Cork, Co. N.E.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland—(1) whether he can state in how many Poor Law Unions in Ireland during the past two years have the Guardians increased the salaries of the teachers in workhouse schools, which increments the Local Government Board has declined to sanction; (2) are these teachers totally excluded from the advantageous provisions of the Education Act of 1892, 372 while in regard to examination, classification, method, and discipline of their schools, they are fully bound by the rules and regulations of the Commissioners of National Education; and (3) can he hold out any hope that the Local Government Board will not refuse to sanction the increase of salaries recommended by the Boards of Guardians?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. GERALD BALFOUR,) Leeds CentralThe answer to the first paragraph is eight. Eleven proposals to increase the salaries of these officers were sanctioned in the same period. Teachers in workhouse schools are excluded from the provisions of the Education Act of 1892, though it is to be observed that these teachers, in addition to their salaries, receive rations, apartments, firing, light, etc. They are not fully bound by the rules and regulations of the Commissioners of National Education, but are under the control of Boards of Guardians and of the Local Government Board. No undertaking can be given such as is suggested in the last paragraph; every proposal to increase or reduce the salary of a workhouse teacher will, as heretofore, be considered on its own merits.