asked the Minister for Finance if he, or anyone on his behalf, took part in the deliberations of a Committee appointed to deal with economic problems within the Commonwealth at the recent Imperial Conference; if there is at present existing any such Committee or other body charged with the duty of examining or discussing such economic or fiscal questions as affect the States which are members of the Commonwealth, and what representatives (if any) of Saorstát Eireann are members of it.
CEISTEANNA—QUESTIONS. ORAL ANSWERS. - COMMONWEALTH ECONOMIC PROBLEMS.
replying: The Imperial Conference appointed a General Economic Sub-Committee for the period of the Conference on which the Saorstát was represented by the Trade Commissioner in London, and by an official of the Department of Industry and Commerce. Officials and experts from the other Saorstát Departments concerned, including the Revenue Commission, attended when required. There is also a permanent body known as the Imperial Economic Committee, established in 1925 following a resolution of the 1923 Imperial Conference. The Saorstát is represented on it by the High Commissioner and an official of the Department of Agriculture. Its object is to improve the methods of preparing for market and marketing within Great Britain the food products of the other parts of the Commonwealth and of the British Colonies and Protectorates and to promote the interests both of consumers and producers.