§ MR. O'DONNELLasked the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Whether he has seen an assertion, mentioned in a letter on Irish education in the "Times," of the 22nd instant, that
the Dublin College of Science, managed and paid by Government, numbered twenty-four or twenty-five students for an expenditure exceeding £7,000;and, whether he can inform the House what amount of truth there is in this statement?
§ COLONEL STANLEYIn the absence of the Chief Secretary, I may be allowed to answer this Question. I am not aware, as a matter of fact, whether the Chief Secretary has seen the assertion to which the hon. Member alluded. If the hon. Gentleman had addressed the Question to my noble Friend the head of the Education Department, he would have been able to give the information. In his absence, which is on account of illness, I have been asked to answer the Question. The number of students in the Royal College of Science, Dublin, was 66 during the Session of 1876–7. Of these, 21 were associate students going through the full three years' 379 course of the College, and 45 were occasional students, taking one or more branches only of science. For the present Session—1877–8—the number of students entered was 55, of whom 22 were associates and 33 occasional students. The annual Vote taken by the Science and Art Department is close upon £7,000. With house repairs, &c, the cost, no doubt, does exceed £7,000 a-year. I must add. that the Science and Art Department never thought the College would be successful as far as the number of students is concerned, and proposed in 1863 to abolish it. It was then called the Museum of Irish Industry. But in 1864 Mr. Gregory's Committee, composed chiefly of Irish Members, reported so strongly in favour of it, that Government felt compelled to maintain it.