§ MR. MACALEESEI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland will he explain why, seeing that money may be advanced to purchase a farm or a garden in connection with a non-vested national school in Ireland, money for the same purpose may not be advanced in the case of a vested school.
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURThe Act which provides for loans for the acquisition of land in connection with National Schools was passed in 1884, and I cannot state with certainty the reasons which may have influenced Parliament in confining the advances of money for this purpose to the case of non-vested Schools. I may observe, however, that up to the time of the Act of 1884 no provision existed whereby loans, or other form of aid, could be advanced for the erection, enlargement, or purchase of non-vested schools, whereas grants for building purposes have always been available in the case of vested schools.