§ Mr. PATRICK O'BRIEN (Kilkenny)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland will he ex-plain why the Intermediate Education (Ireland) Act programme, which is usually issued before Easter in each year, has not yet been issued for 1901, and is nearly three months overdue; whether he is aware of the inconvenience of this delay to, and the probable loss it will entail on, educational establishments at the next examinations, because the usual information as to the course of studies has not been published; and whether he can say when this programme will be published, and what it is proposed to do to insure the various educational establishments concerned against monetary loss, because of the delay in publishing the programme.
§ MR. G. W. BALFOURIt has already been stated by me that when the programme for 1901 was under consideration in December last the Board of Intermediate Education determined to defer its final settlement until Parliament had considered the proposed legislation. At a meeting of the Board held on the 31st ultimo it was decided to submit to the Lord Lieutenant the rules and programme for 1901 without further delay, and on the same lines as in previous years. The rules and programme have since been approved by the Lord Lieutenant, and will very shortly be published. No material change having been introduced by the rules and programme for next year, the inconvenience or loss referred to in the question cannot arise.