§ MR. O'DOWD (Sligo, S.)I beg to ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland what steps, if any, he intends to take in the matter of the proper heating and general upkeep of the national schools of Ireland; and whether, seeing that the responsibility for such general repairs, heating, etc, at present falls on the teacher, he will consider the advisability of allocating a certain grant for the purposes named, viz., the heating 562 and keeping in proper repair of the national schools of Ireland.
§ MR. BIRRELLThe obligation to provide for the general upkeep of national schools in Ireland rests, as regards vested schools, upon the Commissioners of National Education or the local trustees as the case may be, and, as regards non-vested schools, upon the patron or manager. The question of the heating of national schools, as well as the whole subject of the construction and maintenance of such schools, is at present engaging my serious attention.