§ MR. J. MURPHYTo ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland if he can state the number of teachers trained between 1898 and 1900 who got special distinctions at their first examinations; the number of same placed provisionally in second class and afterwards depressed to third grade; the number of teachers trained in 1898–1900 whose salaries were originally fixed higher than the minimums of £56 and £44, the number of same placed on the minimum salary, who have since received special consideration; and the number placed in third grade who are paying premiums for second-grade pensions.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) The Commissioners of National Education inform me that the compilation of the Return asked for would take a long time, and would involve the closest scrutiny of the records of the Board for many years, while no adequate advantage would accrue from it. In these circumstances I cannot ask the Commissioners to undertake the preparation of the Return.