§ Mr. BYRNEasked what is the difference between a third-grade teachers' maximum salary under the old system and under the new one?
§ Mr. DUKEThe maximum salary exclusive of capitation Grant of a third-grade male teacher is £84, and under the new proposals will be £102. In the case of women the figures are £72 and £88, respectively.
§ Mr. O'LEARYasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether the secretaries of the Board of National Education submitted the memorial of the paper-promoted Irish national teachers to the Commissioners at a regular meeting of the Board; whether it was considered by them; if so, what decision did the majority arrive at; whether he is aware that the Commissioners were hertofore willing to pay this money; if he will say on what grounds they have now altered their opinion; and whether, seeing that these teachers are highly efficient, he proposes to take any action in connection with the Board's refusal of the wages covenanted for?
§ Mr. JOHN WALSHasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether the Commissioners of National Education still persist in withholding from the paper-promoted teachers the arrears of grade salary which are legally due to them under rules sanctioned by the Treasury; how many of these teachers have applied to the Board's secretaries since the recent 1548W Debate on the Irish Education Estimates for the money wrongly withheld from them, and what is the amount so claimed; has the memorial of these teachers appeared on the agenda for and been considered by the Commissioners at a regular meeting of the Board, and with what result; whether he is aware that, in addition to the two wrongs already perpetrated on these men, the injustice, if not rectified, will lessen the salaries of some of them under the new scheme, and that it has diminished the pensions of those who have been superannuated; and if he will ask the Board and the Treasury to redress this penalty on these public servants by paying the moneys claimed?
§ Mr. DUKEI assume the memorial was submitted to the Commissioners of National Education in the usual way. It has been submitted to me with a Report from the Commissioners, which has been duly considered. The decision of such a matters rests with the Treasury. As I informed the hon. Member for West Cork on the 12th November, a concession was made to these teachers in September, 1913, by increasing the authorised number of places for teachers with first-grade salary, and I cannot hold out any hope of securing a further concession in respect of such promotions. Some teachers have applied to the Commissioners since the Debate on the Irish education proposals, but without an exhaustive examination the precise number or the amount of money involved cannot be ascertained.
Dr. O'NEILLasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland whether he is aware that in certain localities in England the possession of special qualifications by elementary teachers is rewarded by special bonuses; whether similar rules apply to the teachers of Irish primary schools; whether, under the results system, the passing of an examination shortened the period of promotion to first class by four years; whether the passing the diploma in education examination shortens the period by one year; and whether the State puts less monetary value on high qualifications now than it did twenty years ago?
§ Mr. DUKEThe Commissioners of National Education are not aware of the conditions under which special bonuses are awarded to teachers in England. As to the rest of the question, I would refer the hon. Member to the answer to a question on the subject by the hon. Member for South Down on the 7th November.