§ MR. FLYNN (Cork, N.)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland whether the Commissioners of National Education have yet taken any steps towards effecting the necessary repairs of the National Schools, Freemount, county Cork; are they aware that the present dilapidated and insanitary condition of the building endangers the health of the scholars and gravely affects the average attendance; and, in view of the undertaking that there would be no delay in effecting the repairs, given last May, whether the Commissioners can explain why the necessary work has not yet been commenced.
§ (Answered by Mr. Bryce.) The Commissioners of National Education inform me that they have sanctioned a grant of 1307 £456 towards the cost of rebuilding the Freemount schoolhouse. As, however, the existing lease under which the premises are held has but a few years to run, the Commissioners consider it necessary that a new lease should be obtained before so large an expenditure of public money is incurred. Instructions for the preparation of a new lease have accordingly been issued, and when this has been signed the necessary steps will at once be taken. The Commissioners are aware that the temporary buildings in which school work has been conducted are unsuitable, and that the average attendance has, as a result, been appreciably smaller.