§ MR. MOONEY (Newry)To ask the Chief Secretary to the Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland is he aware that there are ten teachers in charge of schools with an average of over sixty, who completed 590 a two years course of training in the year 1900 and are paid a salary of £70 per annum, exclusive of capitation grant and fees for extras; whether this is the ordinary salary of third grade; whether these teachers are losing upwards of £40 each annually; whether five teachers trained during the same year, and now in charge of schools with an average under sixty, are being paid a special salary by the Commissioners of National Education; and, whether, seeing that the Government are reconsidering the distribution of the Supplementary Estimate, he will take steps to set aside a portion of this grant to meet the claims of these ten teachers.
(Answered by Mr. Birrell.) I would refer the hon. Member to my Answers to his previous Questions on this subject. The Commissioners of National Education have repeatedly stated that the claims of the teachers referred to in the first part of the Question have been fully dealt with on the merits and that they are still prepared to consider any facts which may be brought to their notice in a particular case. In the circumstances, the reply to the last part of the question must be in the negative.