asked the Minister for Education when the armoury section of the National Museum was last open to the public; and when it will next be open to the public.
277.
Written Answers. - National Museum.
276.
asked the Minister for Education the present whereabouts of the National Museum's Chinese collection; when it was last open to the public; and when it will next be open to the public.
278.
asked the Minister for Education the present whereabouts of the National Museum's Japanese collection; when it was last open to the public; and when it will next be open to the public.
279.
asked the Minister for Education when items from the National Museum's collection of furniture were last on public display; and when such objects will next be accessible to the public.
280.
asked the Minister for Education where the National Museum's collection of musical instruments is presently housed; and when it will next be made accessible to the public.
288.
andMr. Horgan asked the Minister for Education if he will provide a list of the museum's galleries which are currently closed to the public; the reasons why these galleries were closed; and the steps being taken to reopen these galleries to the public.
With the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 276, 277, 278, 279, 280 and 288 together.
The following is a list of Museum Rooms which are, at present, closed to the public for the carrying out of structural repairs:
|
Room |
Closed since |
|
Music |
|
|
Main Furniture |
1975 |
|
Continental Furniture |
1972 |
|
Armoury |
1978 |
|
Japanese |
1963 |
|
Chinese |
1978 |
|
Early Historical Collection |
|
|
Ethnographical Room |
These rooms will be re-opened as soon as repairs have been completed.
281.
asked the Minister for Education if he will give an assurance that none of the material currently on loan from the National Museum to other museums is deteriorating.
I have no information indicating any deterioration in material on loan from the National Museum to other museums. It would be most unusual for other museums to be less careful of material on loan than the owner museum and I have no reason to suppose that there is any exception to the general rule.
If the Deputies have any reliable information to the contrary, I would be glad to hear of it.
282.
asked the Minister for Education if it is normal procedure for the National Museum to card-index new acquisitions.
The answer is yes. The Deputies will appreciate, however, that the completion of information on cards follows from identification marking of the objects and their registration on acquisition. The work of card indexing proceeds according to the scale of acquisition and the staffing resources available for the work.
283.
asked the Minister for Education the percentage of the collections of each division in the National Museum which has been fully card-indexed.
There are nearly three million specimens in the National Museum and it is not considered that the expenditure of time and effort required to ascertain the percentages sought would be warranted.
284.
andMr. Horgan asked the Minister for Education if he will give an assurance that all objects currently on loan from the National Museum to other museums are properly card-indexed.
All objects currently on loan from the National Museum have been either card indexed, listed or appropriately entered in loan books.
285.
asked the Minister for Education if it is the practice of the National Museum to card-index material held by other museums.
It is not the practice of the National Museum to card-index material held by other museums.
286.
asked the Minister for Education if it is the practice of the National Museum to prepare detailed scale drawings of the objects held by other museums.
It is not normally the practice of the National Museum to prepare detailed scale drawings of objects held by other museums.
287.
asked the Minister for Education if it is normal practice for the National Museum to retain copies of drawings made by museum staff for outside individuals.
I would refer the Deputy to my reply to Question No. 505 of 11 October 1978.