§ Mr. VINCENT KENNEDYasked the Chief Secretary whether he had received a copy of a resolution from the secretary of the teachers' association, Castleterra national school, county Cavan, asking that the Irish national teachers' pension fund be augmented; that the sum of £500,000 per annum, by which the Scotch elementary education Grant exceeds the Irish elementary education Grant, be voted in aid of Irish primary education; that adequate funds be provided for the erection, repair, and suitable maintenance of school premises; and that the £280,000 of salaries for the first quarter of each financial year, the £150,000 annual capitation Grant, and the £114,000 Birrell Grant, which are paid a year late or a year after the money has been earned, be at once brought up to date and provided for in the Estimates for the financial year 1912–13; and will this resolution have his immediate consideration?
§ Mr. BIRRELLI have received a copy of the resolution in question. The desirability of improving the teachers' pensions and of substituting monthly for quarterly payment of salaries is admitted and will not be lost sight of. I am always anxious to obtain more money for Irish education, but I cannot hold out hopes of the additional half million asked for in the resolution.