asked the Minister for Education whether he will state the grounds for his refusal to pay over to Co. Wicklow Joint Technical Instruction Committee grants earned by that body under an approved scheme during the scholastic year which ended in July, 1928.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Technical Instruction Grants (Wicklow).
The Committee referred to has refused to comply with its statutory obligations under sub-section (4) of Section 6 of the Local Authorities (Officers and Employees) Act, 1926. Pending such compliance the Committee's scheme for the current year has not yet received official approval, and it is not possible to make any payment of State funds to a body not possessing the necessary authority for the legal expenditure of such funds.
Is the Minister aware that the grants were earned on a scheme which had been approved in 1927-28 and that the only letter the Committee received was one on the 29th January notifying that the scheme had not been approved?
I am aware of the latter part of the supplementary question. I am not aware that the grants had been earned previously. If the Deputy means that the grants had been calculated on the attendance during the previous year that is another matter, but that they had been earned in the previous year is a different question, and I am not willing to fall in with the Deputy's views on the matter.