I move:—
Go ndeontar suim na raghaidh thar £6,300 chun íoctha an Mhuirir a thiocfaidh chun bheith iníoctha i rith na bliana dar críoch an 31adh lá de Mhárta, 1941, chun Déontaisí d'lnstitiúid Ard - Léighinn Bhaile Atha Cliath (Uimh. 13 de 1940).
That a sum not exceeding £6,300 be granted to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending 31st March, 1941, for Grants to the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (No. 13 of 1940).
This Vote is required in order to provide the expenses to be incurred before the end of the present financial year in connection with the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies which was established by the Act passed by the Oireachtas in June last. That Act provided that the functions of the Institute would be discharged through Constituent Schools, and that a School of Celtic Studies and a School of Theoretical Physics should be established as soon as conveniently might be after the passing of the Act. The necessary steps are being taken for the establishment of these schools, and the establishment orders for the purpose will be laid before the Oireachtas at an early date.
In order to understand better the arrangement of the Estimate, it may be well to explain briefly the system of organisation of the Institute. In the first place, there is the council of the Institute, which is the booy corporate, and is entrusted with the general government and administration of the Institute. The first council has already been constituted, its members being Reverend Dr. P. Browne, chairman; Dr. Best, Professors Binchy, Schroedinger and Hackett as appointed members; and the three ex-officio members—Dr. Eoin MacNeill, President of the Royal Irish Academy; Dr. Conway, President of University College, Dublin, and Professor Thrift, Provost of Trinity College.
Each Constituent School will have its own governing board, which will be in charge of the academic affairs of the school. The governing boards for the School of Celtic Studies and the School of Theoretical Physics will be appointed as soon as these schools are established.
As indicated in the Estimate which has been circulated to Deputies, the expenses of the Institute and its schools come under two main headings —(a) annual grants, and (b) expenditure of a capital nature. The former is subdivided into three sections, the first of which makes provision for the administrative expenses of the council. The largest and most important of these expenses is the cost of accommodation. This is one of the matters for which responsibility is entrusted to the council by the Act, and it is not possible to say definitely at this stage what the views of that body may be on the subject, but a tentative arrangement is being made to provide accommodation for the Institute in two adjacent houses in Merrion Square, and this section of the Estimate includes provision for the rent and rates for these houses, the cost of furniture and other equipment, and the expenses of light, heating, and maintenance. It also includes provision for the salary of the registrar and a clerk-typist.
Section 2 of the Estimate makes provision for the academic staff and educational expenses of the School of Celtic Studies. It is proposed that three senior professors should be appointed to the staff of this school, and provision is also included for the appointment of assistants and for the purchase of works of reference and other books for the school library. Section 3 of the Estimate makes similar provision for the School of Theoretical Physics. While it is intended that the staff of this school will normally include three senior professors, it is proposed to appoint only one senior professor in the school at present. The amount (£500) provided in sub-head B of the Estimate is intended to defray the cost of any structural alterations or similar improvements that may be necessary in the buildings in which the Institute is housed, in order to make them fully suitable for the purpose.
Deputies will understand from the explanation I have given that this Estimate is, to a large extent, of a provisional or experimental nature. It is possible that expenditure may be necessary for other purposes which I have not mentioned, such as the provision of scholarships, or the payment of fees or expenses of visiting professors. It may be assumed that expenditure under these headings will arise when the Institute and its Constituent Schools are in normal working condition, but it is not possible to say now whether the need for such expenditure will arise before 31st March next. These are matters that come within the province of the governing boards of the schools, and until these boards have been appointed and have prepared their plans and programmes of work, it is not possible to make an exact calculation of the expenses to be met.
