§ MR. O'MALLEY (Galway, Connemara)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction has undertaken to make provision for manual instruction in woodwork and other subjects in connection with Irish national schools, as stated in the National Education Board's rules and programmes; and whether, seeing that the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction has stated that they are not in a position to make any 864 announcement with regard to this statement in the National Board's programmes issued in April, 1904, and repeated in their new code of rules issued in April, 1905, he will state when the Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction will be in a position to make any statement with regard to this announcement, or do the National Education Board purpose retiring from the responsibility of manual instruction.
(Answered by Mr. Walter Long.) Negotiations upon this subject are in progress between the Department and the Commissioners, and no definite statement can yet be made as to the arrangements which will be adopted. In the meantime, manual instruction, cookery, etc., continue to form part of the ordinary curriculum in national schools.