§ Mr. GINNELLasked (1) whether Miss Degani, who has obtained an appointment in the National University of Ireland, is an English lady with powerful English connections; whether she has got the appointment after failing in the examination for it in competition with two Irish ladies who succeeded; whether the only qualifying diploma she has produced purports to be from the University of Padua; whether he is aware that the secretary of that university certifies that she never was given any diploma there and never studied there and never was examined there; whether, when charged with incompetence to teach Spanish, she refused to submit to any independent test in Spanish; whether she refuses to lecture in one of the subjects which she is paid for lecturing in; and, in view of the inportance of public confidence in the administration of this new university, whether the appointment of this lady will be cancelled and her position filled legitimately according to merit, found after advertisement and examination; (2) how long the Dublin Commissioners of the National University are to continue adopting appointments to professorships and lectureships made by persons outside their own body; at what date will the senate 2273W acquire power to make appointments to those positions; at what date, and by whom, the recommendation of "the governing body to appoint two highly qualified Irish ladies to lectureships in Italian and Spanish at £100 a year each was overruled and the joined lectureships given to Signorita Degani at £300 a year, with a promise that the position would be raised to a professorship at a salary of £500 a year; at what date this decision was communicated to the governing body and to the ousted Irish ladies; what minute the governing body made on the subject; and, if Signorita Degani possesses any qualifications for the position, will he say what they are and from what university or college; and (3) how it happened that at the time when the Dublin Commissioners of the National University advertised for two lecturers in Italian and Spanish at a salary at £100 a year each, and subsequently when they intimated inability to carry out this arrangement for want of funds, it was already publicly announced in England that Miss Degani, who had failed in the examination for both positions, had been, without any advertisement, given both at a salary of £300 a year, with a promise that her position would be made a professorship with £500 a year; and if he will state the date of this appointment, the reason for the secrecy, the Commissioners present, the documents or evidence on which they acted and rely to justify their action, the medium through which their decision was conveyed to Miss Degani, and the measures taken to prevent it becoming known in Ireland?
§ Mr. BIRRELLAs I have already stated, in reply to a question asked by the hon. Member for East Down on the 8th instant, the Dublin Commissioners at first instituted separate lectureships in Italian and Spanish with stipends of £100 a year each, and advertised for candidates. After full consideration of the applications received, the Commissioners came to the conclusion that it was desirable to substitute for the two separate offices a single lectureship in the two languages with a stipend of £300 a year, and, having done so, they unanimously selected for the office Miss Degani, the candidate whom they deemed to be the most learned and suitable. Subsequently it became necessary to appoint professors in lieu of lecturers in a number of cases in order to comply with the provisions of the University Charter determining the mode of conducting examinations, and Miss Degani has accepted the pro-2274W fessorship of Italian and Spanish in lieu of the lectureship which she previously held and at the same salary. Miss Degani is a lady of Austrian birth, who has taught and studied at Munich and Cambridge, and has also worked under the Board of Education in England. The appointment now in question was not made the subject of competitive examination, and the statement that she failed in examination is therefore absurd. The allegations with regard to her qualifications and teaching are equally unfounded, and appear to be based on the vindictive statements of one of the unsuccessful candidates. These statements were personally investigated by the president of the college, and the governing body at their last meeting unanimously expressed their confidence in Miss Degani's capacity to discharge all the duties of her office. The names of the Dublin Commissioners are a sufficient answer to the charges of incompetence, favouritism, and submission to outside dictation, which the hon. Member has thought fit to bring against them. The powers of the Commissioners expired on 31st July, and professors and lecturers in University College, Dublin, will henceforward be appointed as provided by the statutes of the college; and I trust that they will be appointed with the same independence of local jealousies that the Commissioners have shown in this case.