§ MR. THOMAS O'DONNELL (Kerry, W.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether his attention has been called to the special circumstances of Mr. Lavelle, Ballynaclosha National School, Armagh; and whether, seeing that his salary for the years 1898 and 1899 was, owing to 449 epidemic, far below what it was before, special consideration will be given to his case by substituting other years for those in which the epidemic occurred.
(Answered by Mr. Wyndham.) The average income for the three years ended 31st March, 1900, was taken as the basis in fixing the consolidated salaries of all teachers, and the substitution in the calculation of any year previous to 1898 was not permissible. Cases, however, in which the rule as to the average income for the three years ended 31st March, 1900, was found to work inequitably, received special consideration. Mr. Lavelle's case was most carefully investigated in connection with a special report from the senior inspector of the circuit, but the circumstances did not warrant a departure from the general rules applicable to all teachers.