MR. PATRICK O'BRIENOn behalf of the hon. Member for East Mayo, I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the 389 Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he will lay upon the Table of the House any correspondence which has passed between the Treasury and the Commissioners of National Education in Ireland on the proposed withdrawal of the grant for the Irish language as an extra subject; and whether he will also lay upon the Table the Minutes of any meetings of the Board at which the subject was considered.
§ MR. WALTER LONGI answered this Question on Wednesday † last.
§ MR. THOMAS O'DONNELLI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he wall give the Minutes of the meeting or meetings of the National Board at which it was agreed to withdraw payment for Irish as an extra subject in Irish national schools; whether, in coming to this decision, the Board made any, and, if so, what arrangements for the teaching of Irish within ordinary school hours; to what purpose it is intended to devote the money which formerly was spent in paying for Irish; and whether any steps are being taken by the Board for training teachers for the teaching of this subject.
§ MR. WALTER LONGFor the reason already stated by me I am unable to lay these Minutes on the Table of the House. The rules in the Code relating to the teaching of Irish as an ordinary subject within school hours are as follows:—No. 121. A bi-lingual programme (Irish and English) may be sanctioned in Irish-speaking districts or in localities where Irish and English are spoken. No. 123 (b). All the extra branches may be taught during the time constituting in "attendance," provided the adequacy of the course of instruction in the ordinary school subjects is not impaired or hampered thereby. The Board agreed, by resolution passed unanimously, to the withdrawal of fees for all extra subjects, provided the savings thereby effected should not be applied in reduction of the Vote, but should be devoted to the purposes of Irish national education. That decision does not in any way affect the
† See (4) Debates, cl., 1344.390 existing facilities for the teaching of Irish or other extra subjects within ordinary school hours. The Government have at present under consideration, in correspondence with the Treasury, a proposal to provide an increased staff in small schools by means of the appointment of manual instructresses. The expenditure on fees for all extra subjects amounted in the year 1904 to £14,368, which included a sum of £12,069 paid for Irish. Irish is taught in all the training colleges, with the exception of the Church of Ireland Training College in Kildare Place. The Board examine for certificates in Irish, and the number of teachers holding Irish certificates is 1,045.In reply to further Questions, Mr. WALTER LONG denied that the teaching of Irish language had been excluded. It was merely no longer treated as an extra subject.