The items under sub-heads a (2) and a (3) deal with travel and incidental expenses, which have arisen largely because of extra expenditure in connection with the National Museum. Last year a certain number of excavation schemes were conducted throughout the country. Although the Board of Works is primarily responsible, the practical cost of the schemes being borne on their Vote, certain additional expense fell upon the Museum by reason of the fact of increased travel and subsistence allowance and certain other provision had to be made for some of the officers. The item a (3) also includes certain incidental expenses in connection with the National Library. With regard to item b (3), we are asking for £280 extra in connection with the production of the English-Irish Dictionary which has been in the hands for some years past of Father MacKenna as editor. The editor had anticipated that when the book reached the stage when it would be ready for printing he would be able to dispense with the aid of his assistants; but now he finds it desirable to retain the services of his staff, at least until the first stage of the printing has been completed. The dictionary is at present being printed and we hope to have it ready for publication in May next.
With regard to b (6)—Production of a Sound Film in Irish—the small additional sum for the production of a sound film (or "talkie") in Irish is required to defray certain expenses incurred in the present financial year. The production of the film would have been very much more expensive had we undertaken the work ourselves, but through the collaboration of Mr. Robert Flaherty and the Gainsborough Film Company we were able to get it produced at a comparatively small payment of, I think, £100. The expenses incurred in the present financial year included the cost of a visit made by a representative of the Department to London to advise in the cutting of the film, the payment of a royalty of £20 to British Acoustics, the purchase of a second copy of the print and some other expenses. It is anticipated that the £60 we are now looking for will cover all the expenses in connection with the film. It is hoped to have arrangements completed soon, that the film will be on exhibition early in the new year and that schools and teachers will take the opportunity to see it. I should add that we hope to have some receipts out of the production of the film throughout the country. Out of any receipts that are obtained from the hire of the film, two-thirds will go to the Department and one-third to the distributors who arrange, on behalf of the Department, for its exhibition.
Sub-head b (7) represents the refund of college fees and payment of arrears in respect of a young man who was a former student of the College of Science. The provision is intended to enable the Department to refund fees to this young man and to pay the balance of his scholarship. This student's course was interrupted owing to his arrest and imprisonment in 1922. He held a scholarship which entitled him to free instruction and to a maintenance grant of £66 per annum. When he came out of prison and desired to return to the College, he was refused the unpaid balance of the scholarship (£36 13s. 4d.) and was, in addition, required to pay the usual college fee of £20. The unpaid amount, plus the additional charge, is now being refunded to him. No charge was made against him at the time, and, in view of the general policy of the Government, I consider— and the Minister for Finance agrees with me—that we should refund this amount.
The most important sub-head is sub-head b (8)—the Irish Folklore Commission. The Government has been of opinion for some time that an organised effort should be made without delay to collect as much as possible of the remnants of our folklore, especially the oral literature in the Irish language which is being gradually lost on the death of the older Irish speakers in the Gaeltacht. After careful consideration it has been decided to establish a commission and to give this body as wide a discretion as possible in the work assigned to it. We hope to have the assistance of the Folklore Institute as members of the new commission, and to strengthen that body by the addition of some others, including representatives from the Departments of Education and Finance. It is not proposed to interfere in any way with the useful work at present being done by the Folklore Society of Ireland. On the contrary, the new commission will be authorised to make a grant of £250 to the society to assist in the advancement of this work. The intention is that it should be aided as far as possible in the work of publication. A great amount of matter has been collected already but not published, and this £250 will be utilised, it is hoped, in order to increase publication. It is proposed that a sum of £3,000 per annum be placed at the disposal of the commission for a period of five years—in addition to the sum of £250 already mentioned. From this sum the commission will be required to defray all expenses in connection with its work. The intention is to establish a Grant-in-Aid, so that the expenditure will not be subject to the audit of the Comptroller and Auditor-General nor will any unexpended balance be surrendered at the close of the financial year. We hope, therefore, to give the fullest possible discretion to the new commission in pursuance of this work, and the present Estimate of £813, which I am asking the Dáil to pass, is based on the belief that the commission will be able to start work by the 1st January next.
