§ MR. MACVEAGHTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether as national teachers under the old system obtained first of first class only after scoring an exceptionally high percentage on a difficult set of papers, embracing a wide range of subjects, and were only permitted to sit for examination after both head and district inspectors had certified that their schools had been conducted in a highly efficient manner for the three years preceding, he will, as a reward of scholarship and successful school keeping, direct the Commissioners of National Education to give special consideration to the case of any of these, with the requisite average attendance, who may yet be placed, under the new order of things, lower than first of first grade, in the event of any rearrangement of the salaries of Irish national teachers.
§ (Answered by Mr. Bryce.) The Commissioners of National Education inform me that the facts are substantially as stated in the earlier part of the Question. The Commissioners have submitted proposals on the subject in connection with next year's Estimates, and these are now under consideration.