§ MR. DILLON (Mayo, E.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether any official inquiry has recently been made into the working of the Industrial schools in Ireland; what was the nature of the inquiry; whether the manager of the schools received any intimation that such an inquiry was being held; and whether any official connected with the administration of industrial schools in England visited Dublin in connection with this inquiry; and, if so, with what object?
§ MR. GERALD BALFOURAn inquiry held in October and November, 1897, into a variety of matters connected with the administration and practice of the Reformatory and Industrial Schools Office in Ireland. The Committee appointed to conduct the inquiry consisted of Mr. Holmes, the Treasury Remembrancer, Mr. Fagan, the Inspector of Reformatory and Industrial Schools in Ireland, and Mr. Robertson, Assistant-Inspector of Reformatory and Industrial Schools in Great Britain. The inquiry was an inter-departmental one, and no intimation of the holding of the inquiry was given to the managers of the schools.