HC Deb 09 May 1901 vol 93 cc1179-80
*MR. DELANY

I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether he will grant a Return showing the number of industrial schools in Ireland, the persons in whom these schools are vested, the cost of erection, and from what source that cost has been met.

MR. ATKINSON

Industrial schools are private, not public, institutions, as the hon. Member apparently supposes. The managers of these schools applied for certificates from the Chief Secretary authorising them to receive and retain children committed under the Industrial Schools Act. There are seventy such schools in Ireland, but the Government have no information on the other matters mentioned, nor have they any right to call for it from the managers.

*MR. DELANY

Have these schools not been erected under the Board of Works?

MR. ATKINSON

The owners or managers may have obtained loans from the Board of Works, but the Board has no authority to erect schools.