§ MR. BRIGGI beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he will consider the advisability of taking steps to make elementary education in Ireland compulsory.
MR. BRYCEThe Irish Education Act of 1892 provides for the application of the law of compulsory attendance at school in all municipal boroughs, towns, and townships in Ireland; and under the Local Government (Ireland) Act, 1898, it is optional with the rural district councils to come under the same provisions. The law, therefore, already provides facilities for compulsory education in Ireland, although there are many districts in which it has not been adopted.