§ MR. THOMAS O'DONNELL (Kerry, W.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been directed to a petition from ninety-five teachers and their managers, asking for an inquiry into the manner in which salaries were fixed under the New Rules; and whether, in view of the assurances given officially in the House that no teacher would suffer financially by the changes that were being made, the inquiry which has been asked for will be granted.
*MR. WYNDHAMRepresentations have been made by a number of teachers complaining that their salaries had not been fixed on an equitable basis. In all such cases careful inquiry has been made by the Commissioners, and the salaries revised whenever it was deemed fair and right to do so. As against these representations I would refer the hon. Member to the Report of the Controller and Auditor General at page 407 of the Appropriation Accounts for the year 1901–1902, just issued, in which he draws attention to test audits of the correctness of the consolidated salaries awarded to teachers, as a result of which 112 it was ascertained that a number of teachers were paid salaries in excess of what they ought to have been paid. The existing machinery has proved adequate to deal with all cases of the kind mentioned, and I see no sufficient reason for holding a special inquiry in the matter.