§ MR. FETHERSTONHAUGH (Fermanagh, N.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether he is aware that the Cules, county Fermanagh, national school has been for several years in a dilapidated state; that the local education authority, on the ground of its condition, refuse to enforce attendance of children at it; that a grant for rebuilding has been applied for, the necessary local contribution having been raised, and that a very small grant was offered by the Commissioners, and was withdrawn on the ground that a new scheme for plans and grants was under consideration, and can he say when this new scheme will be published, and if any arrangement can be made to enable the Cules school to be carried on, as it is a large one attended by children of all religious denominations in the district.
(Answered by Mr. Bryce.) The Commissioners of National Education inform me that their inspector has reported the schoolhouse in question to be unsuitable for educational purposes. The Commissioners have no information as to the effect mentioned in the second inquiry The Commissioners, on the manager's application, sanctioned in the first instance 1118 a grant of £201 for a new schoolhouse according to Plan No. I. to accommodate sixty pupils, but on the manager representing that he desired to have a schoolhouse for eighty pupils according to Plan II. the Commissioners agreed, on condition that the extra expense would be borne from local sources. The Commissioners have not withdrawn the grant, but they informed the manager that they could not sanction the supplemental grant for which he applied until the revised scheme of building plans and estimates should be settled. The Government are doing everything they can to hasten the settlement of this matter.