§ MR. BOLANDTO ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he can state the total 1000 number of national schools in operation reported by the inspectors as unnecessary; the number of these schools under Catholic, Protestant Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and Methodist management, respectively; the number of pupils of each of these denominations; and the percentage of these pupils to the total.
(Answered by Mr. Walter Long.) The number of such schools in operation is 101, and these are distributed, as regards management, as follows: Roman Catholic, twenty-three; late Established Church, twenty-eight; Presbyterian, thirty five; Methodist, thirteen; other denominations, two. The numbers of pupils on the rolls on December 31st last in these cases, and the percentages to the total, were as follows: Roman Catholic, 1,293 (31.3); late Established Church, 1,108 (26.8); Presbyterian, 1,461 (35.4); Methodist, 194 (4.7); others, 77 (1.8).