§ MR. PATRICK ALOYSIUS M'HUGH (Leitrim, N.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland if he can state to the House why the standard numbers of Irish national teachers now in first division of first class are not abolished, as in the other classes; and how many of the 150 teachers now in first division of first class are between the ages of 55 and 60 1215 years, and how many between 60 and 65 years?
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY TO THE LORD LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND (Mr. G. W. BALFOUR,) Leeds, CentralThe pension establishment of the first division of the first class of national school teachers consists of 150 male and 130 female teachers. Of the males, 26 are between the ages of 55 and 60, and seven between 60 and 65. Of the females, 12 are between 55 and 60, the latter age being the period fixed for the compulsory retirement of females. As regards the first paragraph, the Treasury considered that the rule restricting simultaneous contributions to first of first pensions from the 150 male and 130 female teachers should be maintained, while preserving their rights to existing teachers of the first division of the first class, thus lightening the charge on the Pension Fund, and, at the same time, obviating any reasonable ground for disappointment to present expectations.