asked the Minister for Education whether, in view of the fact that civil servants on retirement after 40 years' service receive a gratuity, and a pension equal to one-half of their outgoing salary, he will take the necessary steps to have a similar scheme put into operation in respect of national teachers in place of the present system of contributory pension.

I regret that I cannot hold out any hope of an improvement in national teachers' superannuation benefits on the lines indicated in the question.