asked the Minister for External Affairs whether his attention has been drawn to the statement in the leading article of the Irish Times of January 14th that the Saorstát has a trade agent in Madrid, and, if this is correct, whether he will state what were the circumstances justifying the appointment of such a trade agent; who has been appointed; when he was appointed, and whether he has any other functions than those of an agent for purely trade and commercial affairs; and, if not, to whom holders of Irish passports in Spain should apply for such assistance as is usually given by consuls to citizens of their State.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - SAORSTÁT TRADE AGENT IN MADRID.
The statement referred to in the Irish Times by the Deputy is misinformed. There is no Saorstát agent in Madrid. As we have not been able to come to an agreement with the British Government on the matter we cannot promise that the British Consul, who acts as agent for the Government of Canada and for the Governments of the other States members of the British Commonwealth, will give assistance to our nationals. Therefore, for the time being any passport holders who may require special assistance and who fail to get it from the British Consul would have to communicate with our office here. I may add that such cases occur only exceptionally.