§ MR. FLYNN (Cork County, N.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, whether his attention has been called to the reduction in the amount of the school grants paid to teachers under the intermediate education system, Ireland, for the year 1905; is he aware that the grants paid for each pass in junior grade fell from £8 3s. 6d. per pupil to £5 14s., in middle grade from £16 7s. to £11 8s., and in senior from £24 10s. 6d. to £17 2s., and showed proportionate reductions in each grade for passes with honour; and whether, in view of the promised increase in the Exchequer grants in aid of secondary education in England, steps will be taken for securing the interests of teachers connected with secondary education in Ireland.
MR. BRYCEThe facts are as stated in the first part of the Question. The reduction in the amount of the grants was due mainly to the increase in the numbers of students in the pass and honours lists, and in a less degree to a decrease in the amount received by the Intermediate Education Board from the Local Taxation Account. The matter referred to in the last part of the Question will not escape my attention, and I may add that the entire system upon which grants for Intermediate Education are made in Ireland appears to me to require serious consideration.