§ MR. J. C. FLYNN (Cork, N.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whether the Association of National Teachers in Ireland have again pressed upon the Government the advisability of reducing the average (70) school attendance at present required to warrant the employment of assistant teachers; and whether, in view of the decline of population in many of the rural districts, the Government will consent to the proposed reform?
§ MR. J. C. FLYNNI beg further to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Commissioners of National Education in Ireland have renewed their application to the Treasury for sufficient funds to enable them to reduce the average school attendance which is necessary for the employment of assistant teachers in the primary schools, from 70 to 60; if so, what result has attended their application?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELANDRepresentations have been made by Teachers' Associations to the effect stated. The question of a reduction in the average attendance entitling a school to one of more assistant teachers is at present the subject of a correspondence between the Irish Government and the Treasury, and until the correspondence has closed I cannot make any further statement in the matter.