§ MR. SEXTON (Belfast, W.)I beg to ask the Vice President of the Committee of Council on Education whether it is true that the Professorship of Geology at the Royal College of Science, Dublin, is about to become vacant; whether it is the case that no Irishman has been appointed to any of the professorships in this college for a period now extending to close on 20 years, and whether the Department intend to continue this anomaly; and whether, having regard to the contemplated reduction of the permanent staff of the Geological Survey of Ireland, the Department will consider the advisability of now appointing to such vacancy (when it occurs) a gentleman who, in addition to the usual qualifications, would be competent to lecture upon the economic, geological, and mineral resources of Ireland, and able to give skilled opinion on such subjects to persons in Ireland who may in future require technical advice and information of the kind?
§ THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL (Sir W. HART DYKE,) Kent, DartfordI am informed that the Professor of Geology is likely to retire shortly, but I have received no official intimation of the fact. It happens that only one of the five professors appointed within the last 20 years is an Irishman, but that is an accidental circumstance, as the selections were made purely on the grounds of scientific attainments. I have no doubt but that, when the professorship is vacant, the Lord President, with whom the appointment rests, will do his best to secure the services of the fittest man for the post, but with the small salary attached to it (£200 a year) the hon. Member will see that it would be difficult to impose on the professor, besides his college duties, the various functions suggested in the last part of his question.