MR. T. M. HEALYI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant, of Ireland (1) the annual salary of a workmistress in an Irish National school being only £12, could he state the amount of her annual results fees; (2) will he consult the Commissioners of National Education (Ireland) relative to the necessity of having these salaries and fees reasonably increased, and, in case they recommend such an increase, will he take steps to give effect to their recommendations; (3) whether he is aware that in many National Schools, when the parents of industrial pupils are poor, the workmistress must supply them, at, their own expense throughout the year, with the materials for the industrial exercises, and (4) will he take steps to have this grievance removed?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURThere is no fixed amount of results fees payable to workmistresses in National Schools. The fee for a pass in needlework in the second class is sixpence, progressing to three shillings in the sixth class, and if a girl passed in each of these classes and the intermediate grades, the total fees would be 14s. 6d. Workmistresses are not employed for the full school day, and are recognised only in mixed schools. The National Board in 1886, with the sanction of the Treasury, increased the fixed salary of the workmistresses from £8 to £12, and I am not aware that any grounds exist for proposing a further increase, nor has 558 any recommendation in this regard been made by the National Board, though I shall be prepared to invite them to consider the matter. The Commissioners are not aware of any instances in which workmistresses have to supply materials, as alleged in the third paragraph of the question, and if any such case should be brought under the notice of the Commissioners, directions will be given for the discontinuance of the practice.