§ Mr. VINCENT KENNEDYasked whether inspectors of national schools in Ireland are empowered to fix the dates of their annual inspection in their various districts; and is there any rule to prevent an inspector inspecting the same school three times in a period of eighteeen months, and thus avoiding three annual inspections?
§ Mr. BIRRELLThe Commissioners of National Education inform me that inspectors are instructed to hold an annual formal inspection in the case of schools where the work cannot be regarded as satisfactory. In other cases it is unnecessary to make detailed inspections every year. They are bound to give due notice of formal inspections, and they are empowered to fix the dates for such inspections. There is no rule to prevent, an 57W inspector visiting a school as frequently as he may deem it necessary in the interests of education, and the fact that an inspector visits a school three times within a period of eighteen months does not necessarily imply an avoidance of three annual inspections.