I move:—
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £6,000 be granted to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1954, for Secondary Education, including the Teachers' Salaries Grant, Capitation Grant, Incremental Salary to Secondary School Teachers and Grant to the Secondary Teachers' Pension Fund.
The reason for this Supplementary Estimate is that the number of pupils attending secondary schools has increased to an extent even greater than was expected. There has been a steady increase year by year in the number of pupils attending secondary schools. In 1949-50, the number was 44,119 pupils; in 1950-51 the number was 45,385 pupils; in 1951-52 the number was 47,089 pupils, and in 1952-53 the number was 48,978 pupils.
An additional sum is also required for grants towards the cost of the preparation and publication of textbooks in Irish suitable for use in secondary schools, as more progress than was anticipated has been made with the printing of thses books.
In this Supplementary Estimate, the additional sum required for payment of capitation grants has been estimated at £3,000, and the additional sum required for the publication of textbooks in Irish is £1,500. It is anticipated that there will be a net deficit of £1,500 in the other sub-heads of Vote 41, and that we shall, therefore, have enough to go on with.
Estimate agreed to.