§ MR. THOMAS O'DONNELL (Kerry, W.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he will state the cause of the delay in building the Farranakilla National Schools, county Kerry, seeing that all necessary preliminaries were completed before March, 1902; whether he is aware that owing to the condition of the school the average attendance has fallen from 102 in January, 1901, to eighty-eight in 1497 January, 1903, that parents have threatened to withdraw their children altogether owing to the condition of the school, and that it is at present roofed with corrugated iron, and is neither rain proof nor wind proof; and whether, in view of the urgency of this case, immediate steps will be taken to have the new school built.
§ THE CHIEF SECRETARY FOR IRELAND (Mr. WYNDHAM,) DoverThe applicant for a grant to build the proposed school house has elected to wait until the new building plans have been sanctioned. The Commissioners are not aware that parents have threatened to withdraw their children from the school. It is a fact, however, that the attendance has fallen off, as stated. The Irish Government is in correspondence with the Treasury on the general question of the issue of building grants, and I hope to be in a position very shortly to make an announcement on the subject.