§ MR. O'DOWD (Sligo, N.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord 637 Lieutenant of Ireland in view of the fact that the Government grant for the erection of a new national school in Ireland amounts to a sum equal to two-thirds of the estimated cost of the building, the remaining portion being supposed to come from local sources, and that in certain congested districts in Ireland this local levy cannot be raised owing to the poverty of the people, the consequence being that much needed schools, including those of Rockfield and Rathbarrow, in North Sligo, remain unbuilt, to the detriment of primary education in Ireland, whether the Government will consider the advisability of increasing the grants for the erection of schools in these districts.
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. G. W. BALFOUR,) Leeds, CentralI have received no representations on this subject from the Commissioners of National Education, and in the absence of any such representations I am not in a position to consider the question.