Vol. 11 No. 6
I beg to ask the Minister for Finance a question of which I have given him private notice:—
Whether his attention has been drawn to an announcement made in the British House of Commons by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in respect of the re-establishment of the gold standard and free market for gold; and if it is the intention of the Executive Council to take any steps to re-establish a gold basis for Irish bank notes and provide a gold reserve in Saorstát Eireann?
My attention has been drawn to the announcement referred to by the Deputy, but as the announcement appeared only in yesterday's papers, and as the terms of the Bill in which it is proposed to embody the impending charges are not yet available, I am not in a position as yet to give consideration to the matters referred to by the Deputy.
Has the Minister's attention been drawn to the statement that, so far as the Self-Governing Dominions are concerned, there shall be complete unity of action, and that the Dominions of Canada, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand are all to be brought into the agreement, and whether any communication was made in the matter to the Executive Council, and whether they were included in this general agreement?
No, sir, and I presume it was not necessary, as we have no separate currency.
Is there no necessity for having a substantial basis for Irish currency?
There is no Irish currency.
Are not bank notes currency?
They are not legal tender.
Are Treasury notes currency?
Some, perhaps.
Then we have no gold and we have only silver and copper, and we have bank notes which are not legal tender. Is that the position? We have no legal tender?
I think there is some legal tender in the country. However, that is a legal question.
We are in a very bad way if there is no legal tender except silver and copper.
