MR. MURPHYTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ire land whether he can state if the Commissioners of National Education in Ireland now see any difficulty about complying with the repeated requests made to them as to the payment of teachers' salaries every month.
§ (Answered by Mr. Birrell.) I understand that the only difficulty in the way of paying the teachers' salaries monthly is that a very large increase of staff would be necessary, and this would involve a considerable increase in the Vote. The total number of teachers, pupil teachers, and monitors is about 17,000. The present is not an opportune time for re-opening the question, but it will not be lost sight of in connection with the larger question of primary education generally.