asked the Minister for Education if he will reconsider his decision to withhold payment of incremental salary to headmasters for the period of the secondary school teachers' strike in February having regard to the fact that headmasters continued to carry out their functions as managers during the stoppage by seeing to the needs of parents and pupils and keeping their schools in a state of readiness for immediate resumption and by dealing with other matters relating to education.

Headmasters of secondary schools are not paid by my Department as managers but as teachers and the question of payment of salary to them in respect of the period of the strike has to be considered on that basis.