Dáil Éireann debate -
Friday, 9 Jun 1944

Vol. 94 No. 1

Nomination of Members of Government: Motion of Approval.

An Taoiseach

Tairgim:

Go gcomhaontaidh Dáil Eireann leis an Taoiseach d'ainmniú na dTeachtaí seo leanas chun bheith ina gcomhaltaí den Rialtas:—

Seán T. O Ceallaigh,

Seán F. Lemass,

Seán Mac an tSaoi,

Séamas O Riain,

Proinnsias Mac Aodhagáin,

Tomás O Deirg,

Gearóid O Beoláin,

Oscar Mac Tréinfhir,

Pádraig O Caoilte,

Seán O Maoláin.

Sé sin an fhuireann a bhí againn go dtí seo. Tá mé fhéin níos mó ná sásta leo, agus fuireann isea iad d'oibrigh go maith ar son na tíre, an chuid is mó aca ó 1916 go dtí anois, agus cuid aca níos fuide siar ná é sin. Ní dóigh liom gur féidir daoine níos fearr fháil agus, mar sin, molaim don Dáil iad.

I am proposing the following Deputies as Members of the Government:

Seán T. O Ceallaigh; Seán F. Lemass; Seán Mac an tSaoi; Séamus O Riain; Proinnsias Mac Aodhagáin; Tomás O Deirg; Gearóid O Beoláin; Oscar Mac Tréinfhir; Pádraig O Caoilte; Seán O Maoláin.

As I have said in Irish, they have worked well, both in their individual Departments and as a team. Individually, they are known to every member of the Dáil. They have been working for our country, most of them, from 1916 to the present time, and some of them also even further back. I do not think there is anything I could say that could possibly add to their reputation. It is known to every member of the House as it is to me. I have more than pleasure in proposing that they be again members of the Government.

General Mulcahy

I asked the Taoiseach before if he would state what particular Ministries are being assigned to the individual Deputies mentioned here?

The Taoiseach

As the Deputy knows, according to the Constitution and the law, they are nominated and selected as members of the Government, and then it is the duty of the Taoiseach to assign Departments of State to them. When it is possible to indicate in advance the Departments to be assigned to the members of the Government it is perhaps well to do it, and I can indicate that I propose, at the moment anyhow, to assign to them the same Departments that they had just before the dissolution. I should also like to indicate that it is my intention to nominate Deputy Seán T.O Ceallaigh as Tánaiste, but, strictly speaking, that does not come before us immediately for consideration. The point is that they are being appointed really as members of the Government, and it is as such that the agreement of the Dáil is required to my nominations.

General Mulcahy

I am grateful to the Taoiseach for the additional information which he has given, and I think it is only natural that we should ask for that information. As the Taoiseach has indicated, it is proposed then that the Ministries in the new Government will be held by the same persons as held them in the last. With that information in front of us, and realising how much the future depends upon production in this country and upon education in this country, without individualising or going into any discussion of any of the Ministries there I think the implications of the Taoiseach's statement, from the point of view of production and from the point of view of education, are such that our consciences would not be satisfied if we acquiesced in any way in the making of those general appointments. Therefore, I propose to divide against the proposal before the Dáil.

Mr. Norton

We would not have felt disposed to challenge a vote on the Taoiseach's nomination of his Ministers were it not for the fact that unfortunately for the nation the Taoiseach has seen fit to include Deputy Seán MacEntee as a Minister. It is because of the fact that Deputy Seán MacEntee has been included in the team on which the Taoiseach proposes to rely for the next five years that we find it necessary to challenge a division on the Taoiseach's nominations. I think it is well known even to the decent minded Ministers and members of the Fianna Fáil Party that Deputy MacEntee is a specialist in throwing election muck. That is his only qualification for inclusion in the Fianna Fáil Government. Everybody knows that the Minister indulged in the most deliberate misrepresentation of his political opponents in the last election, and particularly of the Labour Party, which seems to annoy Deputy Seán MacEntee to an almost limitless extent.

An Ceann Comhairle

The Deputy is aware that the election campaign is not before the House now.

Mr. Davin

But public life is.

Mr. Norton

I want to give the decent minded members of the House the reasons why the nation's money ought not to be spent on paying a salary to and ultimately providing a substantial pension for this person whom we are now asked to swallow as Minister. Everybody knows that Deputy MacEntee during the last election indulged in calumny and abuse of his political opponents. If one were to read his speeches even in that organ of truth known as the Irish Press, one would discover that he had no policy whatever except abuse, downright and deliberate and dishonest misrepresentation of his political opponents. Deputy Seán MacEntee is thoroughly unfit to hold Ministerial rank because of the recklessness and irresponsibility which he has shown in the House from time to time and in which he particularly excels when he is on election platforms. I think his political dishonesty is highly dangerous, but I think his political imbecility is still more dangerous from a national point of view. In the present tense international situation, everybody ought to weigh very carefully the views which he expresses on international matters. Every possible care should be exercised to ensure that nothing is said which is calculated to bring the might of much more powerful nations down on top of us here. If there is any one point upon which care and prudence and caution should be exercised, surely it is in expressing opinions on international matters, and yet we had Deputy MacEntee strutting around the country during the last election almost challenging the British and the Americans to send us more Notes so that he would show the people how the Taoiseach would deal with them. I should have thought that the Taoiseach, during the election, would have found an opportunity of repudiating the irresponsible vapourings of the Minister for Local Government, but the Taoiseach's silence on that matter seems to give approbation to the idea that even the Government might welcome more British or American Notes, with all that they imply, so that Deputy MacEntee might get votes for himself in his new home of Imperialism. I know, of course, that it is extremely difficult to muzzle the ex-Minister for Local Government and Public Health, and I know the anxiety which some of his colleagues feel when he thinks fit to deliver himself on international matters. In peace times we could afford to allow him at large with a reasonable measure of liberty, but I think in a tense international situation Deputy MacEntee is a dangerous person to hold Ministerial rank, and to be permitted to deliver himself of such reckless utterances as those to which he gave vent during the recent election.

It seemed to me that Deputy MacEntee was simply bursting to get more international pressure put upon us here so as to be able to show the way in which the Fianna Fáil Party would deal with the international situation and with all those powerful belligerents, and to show that that was a reason why Fianna Fáil should get more votes at the recent election. I think that the high-water mark was reached by him when he suggested that there was a conspiracy to defeat the Government on the occasion of the Transport Bill and, if you do not mind, he said that that was linked up with the Allied offensive in Italy. In effect, the Minister said that the defeat of the Government was arranged to coincide with the start of the Allied offensive in Italy. One can plumb many depths, but there is no plumbing the depths of imbecility and recklessness of the Minister for Local Government and Public Health. He said, in effect, that the moment the British Army went on the offensive in Italy, that was the moment that was availed of by the Opposition Parties for bringing about the defeat of the Fianna Fáil Government here. Did anybody ever hear such a puerile, reckless, and irresponsible statement as that? Yet, that is the Minister whom we are asked to vote for now. That is the Minister we are asked to put into office again, to steer this country through the very complex and dangerous situation that now exists.

I regard that Minister as the greatest liability that this country could have. I am firmly convinced that he should be muzzled. I am firmly convinced that he should not be at large. I am firmly convinced that he will do the Taoiseach terrible damage— even more damage in the future than he has done in the past—and I say that in the difficult and dangerous circumstances with which we are now confronted the appointment of such a Minister would be a national liability which the Taoiseach should not be asked to bear. I, therefore, would appeal to the Taoiseach to suggest to Deputy MacEntee that he should draw his Ministerial pension and go into Ministerial retirement. After the magnificent work he has given to the nation, I suggest that he is entitled to go into retirement on a Ministerial pension, and I believe that if the Taoiseach will take that advice the nation will benefit by it; but if the Taoiseach insists on having such an irresponsible Minister in his Government, then we have no alternative except to vote against this proposal.

Mr. Donnellan

Personally, I feel that it is very hard, on a motion of this kind, to speak about individual Ministers when they are presented to the House en bloc, but it would appear that that is the rule and, accordingly, it cannot be got over at the moment. It is especially hard, when you have to try to single out particular Ministers, because, when you try to give the usual expression to your views, first and foremost you will be asked: What about the Minister for External Affairs? Now, with regard to the policy of the Minister for External Affairs, and the policy of this country in regard to external affairs in general, I want to say, speaking on behalf of this Party here, that we are in full agreement with that policy, because we believe that it is the only real, sound, honest and honourable policy for this country. In the recent election, however, when talking about individual Ministers, you were asked: Whom do you want to put in as Minister for External Affairs? As I am on that point, I may say that I do not want to say anything in connection with that particular Ministerial post, but there has been the question of singling out certain Ministers. No doubt, to use a phrase that was used last year, and that was used over and over again in this election, the election might have resulted in a certain mixum-gatherum kind of Government, but so far as we, the people representing the land, are concerned, we certainly have got to single out one Minister, and that is the Minister for Agriculture. There is no doubt that agricultural production in this country has not reached the standard which it should have reached. There can be no doubt at all about that, and we feel that the major blame for that must rest on the Minister for Agriculture, because it would appear that he is not able to fight his cause in the same way as other Ministers can.

Mr. Dillon

Hear hear!

Mr. Donnellan

It would appear that if other Ministers want millions of pounds for this, that or the other purpose, those millions of pounds can be got, but when it comes to a question of the bed-rock industry of this country, agriculture—the industry that supplies 80 per cent. of this country's wealth— it has "to go fish" every time. I want to throw out a warning with regard to this year, and I hope the Minister is listening to it. You are going to have less butter this year than you had last year, and you are going to have stricter rationing. Why? Because of the cheese-paring that went on in regard to the dairy farming industry in this country.

Take, for instance, also, tillage farming in this country. Certain things happened during the lifetime of the Eleventh Dáil, that, I think, never happened before in any democratic assembly in the world. For instance, when a motion was put forward by a Deputy last year to help tillage in this country there was not even a reply from the Minister. The Minister sat down. Now, that was a direct insult, and it certainly was not a good headline to set in what is called a democratic assembly. Again, take what happened as regards wool prices in this country. Over-night an Emergency Powers Order was issued—just as you would draw a razor across the wool producer's throat—and yet the Minister for Agriculture was quite dumb: not a word from him.

Now, there is nothing personal about this, but our idea is—and it is the views of the people I represent in this House—that a Government that refuses to accept the principle that 80 per cent. of this nation's wealth, the very life blood of this nation, comes from agriculture, should not be supported, and I think that until the time comes when you have a Government that is prepared to accept that principle in this country, our country will not be what it should be. I have listened to a number of plans put forward by different Ministers, for which millions of pounds were asked, but it would appear that there was no plan at all from the Minister for Agriculture. Certain Ministers have been telling us that £9,000,000 or £10,000,000 would be required for building, reconstruction work, and so on, and we all know that something like £16,000,000 was asked for in connection with a private transport monopoly in this country. Millions of pounds are asked for in connection with various industries in this country, but there is not one word at all about anything to help the industry that is the foundation of the whole lot. I would ask this question of the Minister himself: How is it that every Minister can get away with what he wants, except the Minister for Agriculture?

Definitely, there is nothing personal about this, but we feel, as I said here before, that in these circumstances we are bound to vote against this bloc, because we think that the Minister for Agriculture, Deputy Dr. Ryan, is not making the fight for agriculture that he should make. Again, I believe, and I do sincerely hope that this great Government majority will be used in the best interests of the country, but we feel bound to vote against the bloc that has been presented to us by the Taoiseach, because we think that the Minister for Agriculture has not been making the fight he ought to make.

There is another Minister against whom we shall also definitely vote, and that is Deputy MacEntee, who as Minister for Local Government and Public Health, within 24 hours of his election, issued an ultimatum dissolving the Roscommon County Council, although the Fianna Fáil Party escaped there with a very slender majority. A majority of farmers was represented there, and it was a democratic assembly that was doing what was best for the taxpayers and ratepayers of the county, and I should like to know why, if it was necessary to dissolve that council, the Minister did not do so before the election. These are some of the reasons why we feel that we must vote against this proposal. There are two chief reasons. One is that we feel that the Minister for Agriculture has not been making the fight that he should make for the basic industry of this country, namely, agriculture; and the second reason is that the other gentleman adopted such a dictatorial attitude the moment he found himself at the top again.

Mr. Davin

Did you say he was a gentleman?

Mr. Donnellan

No, I do not.

Mr. Dillon

When this Dáil was electing the Taoiseach to-day it gave me a queer kind of satisfaction to see the Irish people exercising their sovereign right to do wrong, albeit in the very hour in which they were doing gravely wrong. I remember, as many other Deputies do, people like the late Arthur Balfour undertaking to provide for the "contemptible Irish" a good Government and pointing out that if the Irish people were allowed to choose their own Government, they would choose a bad one. Our reply to that was: "What the hell has that to do with you; clear out of the country and let the Irish people choose what Government they wish." That was the right we exercised to-day when we watched the Irish people do wrong, as was their sovereign right. Now we come to another point. The Taoiseach has been graced with many titles. Indeed he has described himself as a man who encompasses the whole Irish people in his heart and says that he has only to look into it to discover what they wish. I suppose it is in pursuit of that process that he has submitted this rather moth-eaten list to us this evening. It rejoices me to have the opportunity to tell him that his heart deceives him. His list of Ministers reflects no credit on any people and it is a privilege to be afforded the opportunity of voting against it, as I propose to do. I do so with special reference to three of them: Deputy James Ryan, Deputy MacEntee and Deputy Aiken.

I do so in regard to Deputy Ryan, because he must be the most incompetent Minister in Europe, if not in the whole world. Every agricultural activity upon which his malevolent glance has fallen has withered under his evil eye. If I could exorcise the devil in him I should be happy to do so, but I do commend to Deputy Ryan that he should withdraw from Ministerial responsibility voluntarily, that he should consult his conscience on his own record and realise that whatever other functions he can discharge in this country, the Ministry of Agriculture he should avoid like a plague. He planned pigs; he planned butter; everything he has ever planned has vanished like snow in summer sunshine. There are not any pigs in the country, and there is practically no butter. In due course, if he is allowed to continue planning in this country, he will achieve the prodigy that was once achieved by a special pet of the late Sir Horace Plunkett who was established on a farm in County Meath to demonstrate to Irish farmers modern methods of agriculture in accordance with the new philosophy. He achieved the prodigy of stripping the land of Meath of even blades of grass. I prophesy that if Deputy James Ryan is allowed to function in this country for another five years as Minister for Agriculture, not a single farmer will be able to earn his living. They will be all on the dole, every one of them.

Mr. Killilea

The Deputy made some false prophecies before.

Mr. Dillon

There are a good many of them on the dole as it is. It has been often said that the poor love de Valera. It has been said in reply: "Well he made a whole lot of them in this country and that accounts for his majority." Is that not true? Every broken-down creature in this country believes that he must vote for de Valera lest the dole be withdrawn. We on this side of the House ambition a situation in which the farmers can live without being under any compliment to Taoiseach de Valera or anybody else. Remember they lived in this country without being under any compliment to Fianna Fáil for hundreds of years before Taoiseach de Valera was ever heard of, and, please God, we shall create a situation in this country in which there will be prosperity on the land hundreds of years after the name of de Valera has been providentially forgotten.

Let us now turn to Deputy MacEntee. Deputy MacEntee has done many indiscreet things in his time. I confess I am not a good hater because when I work myself up to hate anybody, the hate never lasts for more than about three minutes, and I quite forget about it. I would find it very hard to hate Deputy MacEntee because in many ways he is a silly man and nobody will deny that he is an agreeable man, but there are limits to the depths to which politics can be brought in this country. It is 12 years since the Fianna Fáil Party took out of a speech of Deputy McGilligan in this House a paragraph in which the words occurred: "If people die of hunger in this country, it is none of the Government's business." Deputy McGilligan, having used those words, then turned to the Labour Benches and said: "Some people will advance that view but nobody on the Labour Benches and nobody on the benches on our side, will ever accept that philosophy." The proposition was stated for the purpose of condemning it, but the words were extracted and plastered all over the country as representing Deputy McGilligan's private opinion. That dirty, foul slander was repeated in general election after general election and, after it had been publicly exposed several times in this House, there were creatures to be found on the Fianna Fáil Benches to use it again. In this election Deputy Norton delivered a speech down the country in the course of which he said that this was a time of grave danger, and that no responsible man who had any regard for the safety of the country would take any action calculated to divide the people. He went on to say that this attempt to disrupt the country, this attempt to set one man against another——

Mr. MacEntee

This attempt to defeat the Government.

Mr. Dillon

Having quoted these words he promptly condemned the suggestion and reflected harshly on the Taoiseach's conduct in doing these very things. I am not arguing whether he justly condemned the Taoiseach for doing these things, but having stated these things he condemned them categorically. Deputy MacEntee, well knowing the full text of Deputy Norton's speech, extracted from the speech the condemnation of splitting the country. He took out the words "This is the time to split the country; this is the time to cause confusion and to break up national unity". He published them as a positive statement of Deputy Norton's views as to what should be done at the present time, and he asked: "Would you vote for a man who gives expression to these views?" That conduct is dastardly. It is shameful. It is shameful that any man in the public life of this country should stoop to such contemptible conduct.

An Ceann Comhairle

Does the Deputy desire to have the whole election fought over again?

Mr. Dillon

I do not but there are limits beyond which this House should not go. I say let us by all means be excused for the things we say. Some of us, I am aware, may in the heat of the moment say a little more than we intended. Very well, we must answer for that to the people provided we say these things. Public men in any country are held responsible for the things they say and the deeds they have done, but what is dastardly, iniquitous and corrupting the whole public life of the country is that a responsible public man, a man bearing the dignity of an Irish Minister, should go out and deliberately falsify the truth in an effort to seek to sway the people to a certain course of conduct. If you take some little robin-round-the-ditch or some little fellow of no significance you may say: "He is an inexperienced fellow; he does not realise the gravity of what he is doing", but here was a man who was a Minister of an Irish Government, who knew well what he was doing, who was not carried away in his speech, or did not allow his recollection to betray him. He got the extract; he actually cut it out, got the printer to set it up and, after he had examined the proofs, tendered it for publication.

Mr. Corry

On a point of order. Is this in order?

An Ceann Comhairle

Deputy Dillon.

Mr. Corry

Then I hope to follow him.

Mr. Dillon

Am I to proceed, Sir?

An Ceann Comhairle

The Deputy may not pursue the discussion of election literature.

Mr. MacEntee

I think that the Deputy should be allowed to finish.

Mr. Dillon

Usually, it is not desirable to pursue election campaigns in this House. Many things are said about me and I ignore them. It has been said that I should be shot, that I should be put in a grave and that I should be put in jail. I do not mind that.

Mr. Lemass

We should hate to lose you. You are the best asset we have.

Mr. Dillon

I do not want to raise these issues at all. So far as I am concerned, that sort of hot-air leaves no ill-feeling. I myself say fairly rough things, and I do not quarrel with anybody who, in the heat of an election speech, says a little more than he intends. I am glad to say that no freer or more democratic election was ever held in any county than the election. I fought in County Monaghan. I could say anything I wanted to say. Every conceivable protection for which a public man could ask, so as to be absolutely free to say what he wanted to say, was afforded me, and I believe that that was done on the express instructions of the then Government. I do not want to misrepresent them. I am not referring to words spoken in heat. All of us make mistakes of that character. What I am now referring to is the deliberate printing of what a man knows to be false——

An Ceann Comhairle

The Deputy made that point three times. Other Deputies have intimated their intention to follow on the same lines. If we enter upon a debate on the election campaign, we shall be here for a week.

Mr. Dillon

I must claim the indulgence of the Chair. I do not want to raise any question about a single spoken word. Hard words break no bones. Let us forget them. I want clearly to distinguish between words spoken in heat and words printed with the cold-blooded intention not only of deceiving the electors but of blackening an honourable man's reputation. Deputy Norton and I agree about practically nothing. We have said harsh things about each other, and, probably, will again. That does not matter. What matters is that men going out to contest political elections should be able to expect that they will not be deliberately traduced and slandered in cold blood by their opponents.

Mr. Lemass

Hear, hear.

Mr. Dillon

If Deputy Lemass has any case on record in which a falsehood was deliberately printed and published of any member of his Party by a man who knew it was a falsehood, I shall join with him in any action he will take to prevent that person repeating his activity.

Dr. Ryan

The Deputy has done it already in his own speech.

Mr. Dillon

What?

Dr. Ryan

The Deputy talked about butter production. This year's production is higher than was that of 1931, and the Deputy knows that.

Mr. Davin

And turf is up, too.

Mr. Dillon

I am speaking in the presence of Deputy Ryan and he can answer me any way he likes.

An Ceann Comhairle

No Deputy proposed for the office of Minister can answer speeches made now.

Mr. MacEntee

That is why these speeches are being made. They were made last year, too, and there should be some protection for Deputies who cannot reply.

Mr. R. Walsh

I shall claim my right to get up and discuss every speech delivered during the election.

An Ceann Comhairle

There is no such right.

Mr. R. Walsh

I claim that right.

An Ceann Comhairle

The Deputy has no right to rise when another Deputy is speaking.

Mr. Dillon

Anybody in this House can say what he likes, thanks be to God, and I am going to say what I like. Nobody is going to stop me. The more I hurt, the more those on the opposite benches will howl but they will have to listen to what I say. If decent, democratic institutions are to survive in this country, we shall have to draw the line somewhere or no respectable man will expose himself to the mud-slinging and filth of a political campaign. I say, again, that I do not mind the heated word. What I do ask members of this House on all sides to join with me in condemning is the action of the man who, in cold blood, prints that which he knows is not true and, thereby, traduces the character of an honourable opponent.

An Ceann Comhairle

The Deputy has said that repeatedly.

Mr. Lemass

Four times.

Mr. MacEntee

And there can be no reply.

Mr. Dillon

An effort is being made to obscure the significance of what I am saying by interruptions. The Ceann Comhairle has long experience of Parliament and so have I, and skilful interruptions are not going to obscure my point, if I can make it clear. It is because Deputy MacEntee stood for that conduct during the last general election that I name him as one of the persons on whose account I am going to vote against this proposed Government. The last person I name is Deputy Frank Aiken. I have had a good volume of support in condemning Deputy MacEntee because his misconduct was manifest and obvious. Deputy Aiken I condemn for his scandalous misuse of the censorship to bewilder our people at home and misrepresent our people abroad.

I consider the administration of the censorship in this country to be a grave scandal and a wicked disservice to our people. I have, on the occasion of the Estimate on which the responsible Minister's salary is borne, ventilated that matter exhaustively. I do not propose to go into it in detail now but I should not be honest and I should not be frank with the House if I did not make it quite clear that the presence of that man in the Government should, in my opinion, condemn the Government before our people and before the peoples of the world, because those who, by his activities, are offended will resent his membership of the Government and those upon whom he fawns by his activities will despise him. I deplore his continued association with the Government and I should have wished that, when the Taoiseach was choosing what he describes as his "team", he had omitted that serious blot upon their jerseys.

I knew that when the people chose Eamon de Valera as Taoiseach they were making a very grave mistake. This is the first consequence of that mistake. Well, the people have elected to do wrong. As I said, at an earlier stage, the duty of the Opposition is to do all they can during the next few years to mitigate the deplorable consequences of that error. We have pointed out to the Taoiseach the names of three of his most obnoxious choices. Possibly, the words we use to-day will sink in during the next year or so and the Taoiseach may drop them from the Government. If he does not that will not be our fault, but we have a clear duty to point out not only how utterly unsuitable these men are to continue as members of the Government but to reinforce those representations by our votes, so that the Taoiseach will remember that nobody outside the servile 76 whom he controls and who depend on his coat-tails for the seats they hold approves the choice he has made of Ministers to assist him in his Government.

Mr. Corry

I had hoped that the Dáil on reassembling after the result of the unholy combination that succeeded in delaying the work of this House for over a month would get back to business, and would not have the election fought over again in this Chamber. Apparently we are to have it fought over again. One would think that if there was to be any impeachment of the Minister for Local Government it would be on his work as Minister for Local Government. Apparently no leader of any responsible Party in this House dared to impeach the work of the Minister in the Department of Local Government during his period of office. Every proposal the Minister brought to this House during that period met with the unanimous consent of all Parties. We had also an attack on the Minister for Agriculture, and that extended from Deputy Donnellan as Leader of the Farmers' Party to the representative of the Unionists in Monaghan, Deputy Dillon.

An Ceann Comhairle

The Deputy represents a constituency as much as his fellow-Deputies.

Mr. Corry

We all know what he represents. The Deputy wanted to send every man out to France to fight, but when he was challenged with being a single man, and that he should go, he went and got married. I could quite understand an attack being made on the Minister for Agriculture or on any other Minister by other Deputies, but not by a Deputy whose object since he came into this House was to prevent the policy of the present Minister to provide bread for our people in this emergency bearing fruit. A certain policy was deliberate on his part and had a sinister object. We cannot close our eyes to his action when deputy-leader of the Fine Gael Party, when he told us about the mouldy flour produced from Irish wheat.

An Ceann Comhairle

There was a 33-hour debate on agriculture and I am not prepared to have it reopened.

Mr. Corry

We heard a lot about it this evening.

General MacEoin

No member of Fine Gael to whom Deputy Corry could object was nominated as Minister.

Mr. Corry

Surely I am as much entitled to speak as any other Deputy.

An Ceann Comhairle

When in order.

Mr. Corry

I have the right. We had a concentrated attack on Ministers and we know the venom that lies behind it, disappointed hopes. We can understand the position better when we remember that the people of this country have bread to eat to-day owing to the policy of the Minister for Agriculture.

Mr. O'Leary

And 150,000 of them in England.

Mr. Corry

I am just as much entitled to speak here as a representative of agriculture as any other Deputy.

An Ceann Comhairle

This is not a debate on agriculture.

Mr. Corry

This debate is to decide whether the Minister for Agriculture is worthy of his office. That is what other Deputies concentrated upon.

An Ceann Comhairle

Despite the approval in the Deputy's speech, he may not continue any longer on agriculture.

Mr. Traynor

On a point of order, has the Deputy not a right to reply to a point raised in regard to the policy of the Minister for Agriculture?

Mr. Breen

If the Chair allowed Deputy Dillon that latitude, why not allow Deputy Corry to reply?

An Ceann Comhairle

The Deputy did not spend five minutes dealing with agriculture.

Mr. R. Walsh

The main portion of the attack was on the policy of the Minister for Agriculture and on the policy of the Minister for Local Government. I stated at an earlier stage that, if we were to discuss the general election, I would be entitled to get up and discuss every speech made by my opponents during the election. I did not intend to do so but I would be just as much entitled as other Deputies.

An Ceann Comhairle

Deputy Dillon discussed no speech.

Mr. R. Walsh

He discussed other speeches.

An Ceann Comhairle

Deputy Dillon purported to discuss one printed pamphlet or leaflet.

Mr. MacEntee

Was he in order in doing that?

Mr. Breen

I listened to Deputy Dillon attacking the Minister. I heard Deputy Walsh intervening and asking if the election were going to be discussed. I am sorry to say that the Chair did not intervene then and I think it is too late to do so now.

Mr. Coburn

Deputy Dillon did not say anything about an evicted farm.

Mr. Corry

I do not wish to discuss agricultural policy now. I am only dealing with points in the attack that was made on the Minister for Agriculture by the leader of the Farmers' Party. I want to deal with nothing else. We heard little talk about butter from the Farmers' Party despite the fact that more butter is produced now than in pre-war years. We heard talk about millions being spent on everything but agriculture. I am a farmer, and I did not hear any talk about the millions that have been spent on agriculture from 1932 to 1940, in order to induce our farmers to grow wheat so that the people of this country would be fed during the emergency. Last year we know what happened about beet and how the Sugar Company acted. Let us be sensible and let us give credit to the Minister for Agriculture for what he has done for farmers. It is a credit to him to have put this country into the position that we were able to tell foreigners that, thank God, we have sufficient bread for the needs of the Irish people. After all, that is the main thing for any Irishman to look to at the present time. It was the Minister for Agriculture that introduced that policy and that carried it through despite the opposition on other benches. Let us give credit to the Minister for that. As a farmer I freely give Deputy Ryan credit for being the best Minister for Agriculture that this House ever had. I say that openly and frankly. I am speaking now not as a Fianna Fáil Deputy but as a farmer.

Deputy Dillon spoke about the censorship. He ought to go down on his knees and thank God that there was someone to censor the statements that he made in this House, because if they were published it would take an Army guard to save him.

Mr. Davin

Is not that an incitement?

Mr. Corry

The only objection that I have to the Taoiseach and to the Minister for Justice is that they did not put Deputy Dillon where they put better men that had not done one-tenth of the harm that Deputy Dillon has done.

An Ceann Comhairle

That is a personal attack on the Deputy, and is irrelevant. He should deal with the question before the House.

Mr. Coburn

Shooting men from behind the ditch.

Mr. Corry

I did my duty to my country.

An Ceann Comhairle

Order!

Mr. Corry

We have a lot of you howling here.

An Ceann Comhairle

If these interruptions would cease, there would be no disorderly replies.

Mr. Davin

There was no interruption from these benches.

Mr. Killilea

Sit down, you dirty idiot.

Mr. Davin

Is this gentleman entitled to call me a dirty idiot?

An Ceann Comhairle

I did not hear it. It would be most disorderly.

Mr. Davin

Is this first-class racketeer entitled to call me a dirty idiot?

An Ceann Comhairle

The Deputy might resume his seat.

Mr. Killilea

Will the Deputy explain how racketeer comes in?

Mr. Corry

Great use has been made of the speeches that were made during the general election, but we cannot close our eyes to the campaign of calumny and slander that was carried on throughout the whole of the Twenty-Six Counties against the Minister for Supplies and Minister for Industry and Commerce.

Mr. Flanagan

We can prove them.

Mr. Corry

The people of this country have delivered their verdict and have left the Parties opposite a lot smaller than they were when going out. If there was another verdict to be delivered in the morning they would be smaller still.

Mr. Flanagan

What verdict did they give me?

An Ceann Comhairle

Order! Deputy Flanagan, I presume, desires to remain in the House.

Mr. Corry

Deputy Flanagan was elected——

Mr. Flanagan

By 10,000 votes.

Mr. Corry

At the last general election, Deputy Flanagan——

An Ceann Comhairle

This is not a discussion on Deputy Flanagan.

Mr. Corry

When we hear from the benches opposite the statements about the election speeches, we can all very well remember what was shouted from every public platform throughout the Twenty-Six Counties during the past month, when the people were being asked for their verdict. They were asked for their verdict on the conduct of these gentlemen here. They were asked for their verdict not only on Eamon de Valera but on the Ministers and their administration as well, and they gave it with no uncertain voice. It was not my intention to speak to-night, but I could not sit here any longer and listen to the concentrated venom that was being poured out. Any time that they do that again they will get, as far as I am concerned, better than they give.

Mr. Fagan

I am sorry for the course that the debate has taken. Deputy Donnellan stated in the beginning of his speech that he was accused last year of coercing Deputy de Valera and his Government. He also said that he is going to vote against the Ministers to-day. Last year Deputy Donnellan had the chance of changing the Ministers, and if he had used the power that he had last year the farmers would not have got into the difficulties that he maintains they are in to-day. Deputy Donnellan, in my opinion, is not straight in doing what he is doing to-day. Last year he had the power of knocking out the present Minister for Agriculture but he did not use it. He knows that he has not that power to-day. Therefore he is only trying to blind the farmers of the country by voting against the Minister for Agriculture. I am not surprised at Deputy Corry or Deputy Killilea. These two farmers, with their big pensions, have been bolstered under every Act passed by the Fianna Fáil Minister for Agriculture. If there was a contract to be got for seeds or otherwise, Deputy Corry was the first man to get it.

An Ceann Comhairle

These personalities have no bearing on what is before the House.

Mr. Killilea

Will the Deputy repeat that statement outside the House?

Mr. Fagan

I have nothing to say personally——

Mr. Killilea

Will the Deputy repeat that statement outside the House?

Mr. Fagan

With regard to the policy of the Minister for Agriculture, I want to warn the Taoiseach about certain things. The policy of Deputy Ryan, while he was Minister for Agriculture, has left the country in the position that it has not 1 lb. of butter to export.

Dr. Ryan

We are producing more butter and eating more butter. That is the point.

Mr. Fagan

At one time we were exporting thousands of lbs. of it.

Dr. Ryan

What about exports? We are eating it now.

Mr. Fagan

Why are we eating more of it?

Dr. Ryan

Because we can afford to eat it.

Mr. Fagan

It is because lard has completely disappeared from this country. Where has it gone to? We are not able to give a lb. of butter per head to our people. Seven or eight years ago we used to export thousands and thousands of sheep every Thursday to England. In the last two years we did not export a sheep. Our cattle boats are going out half empty. There you have two branches of agriculture which are going down and down. I want to warn the Taoiseach that by the time the war is over there will be a shortage of all these things on the Continent. I ask him to see that millions of pounds are made available for the Minister for Agriculture—I know that Deputy Ryan is going to be appointed Minister again—so that he may bring about a situation which will enable thousands and thousands of lbs. of butter to be exported, and thousands and thousands of cattle and sheep to be exported as well. The present position is that we have nothing to barter so far as other countries are concerned. We have no surplus in any branch of our agriculture to export. I also ask the new Minister for Finance to throw thousands of pounds into the Department of Agriculture so that what I have just suggested may be done. I know the Minister for Agriculture will be reelected and personally I have nothing to say against him. I would like to stress the future we have in front of us for the export of a surplus of agricultural produce and I would ask the Government to do something to increase that surplus enormously.

Mr. Killilea

Before the Deputy sits down, I made a challenge to him at the start to meet Deputy Corry outside the House.

Mr. Fagan

What did I say?

Mr. Killilea

You said that he got special preference in the placing of contracts for seeds.

Mr. Fagan

I could also criticise you for the pension.

Mr. Fogarty

He earned his pension.

An Ceann Comhairle

The question of pensions does not arise here.

Mr. Killilea

I earned my pension when the Deputy was under the bed.

Mr. Flanagan

Is this in order?

Mr. Killilea

Let Deputy Fagan make his statements outside this House, instead of trying to libel a man here in safety.

Mr. Fagan

I did as much as you, and I never looked for a pension.

Mr. Killilea

You did not.

Mr. Fagan

I did, indeed.

An Ceann Comhairle

Both Deputies will resume their seats and remain seated. I do not know what all the excitement is about.

Mr. Killilea

I want to ask that the Deputy either apologise in this House or make the statement outside.

An Ceann Comhairle

Deputy Breen.

Mr. Killilea

I think it is a disgrace to let Deputy Fagan away with it. Deputy Corry deserves an apology.

Mr. Fagan

If I said anything wrong, I apologise.

Mr. Breen

Perhaps Deputy Fagan would allow me to speak. I did not intend to intervene in this debate. I felt like rising when Deputy Mulcahy was making his speech, opposing the Taoiseach, but I refrained. When I heard Deputy Dillon, and heard also a remark made by Deputy Coburn, I felt I could not leave this House without replying. Deputy Coburn said across the House to me that I bought an evicted farm. I want to tell Deputy Coburn that I did buy the farm. I have no interest in the farm and no interest in land; but in regard to anyone who stands for a no rent campaign or no rate campaign, in as far as in my power, I will see they are dispossessed and I will see that the land of this country is of the same value as the house in city or town. When men have obligations to meet, I will see that they meet them. I make no apology to anyone in this House or in the country for my action in buying that farm. I do not want that farm or any farm; I do not want any interest in land or ownership of land. So much for Deputy Coburn.

Mr. Coburn

Still, you bought it.

Mr. Breen

Yes, and I will hold it until such time as they pay their rates. I am willing to lose money on it until they pay the rates. I am of the breed of Cut Quinlan, I am of the breed that wiped the landlords out of this country, not of the breed of Deputy Coburn and Deputy Dillon, who encouraged men to go out to France in the last war. I believe in this country and I fought for it, and I would not be a coward like Deputy Coburn or Deputy Dillon for all the money and land in the world.

An Ceann Comhairle

It is unparliamentary to call a Deputy a coward. Furthermore, visitors are admitted to the Gallery on the strict understanding that they express neither approval nor disapproval of proceedings.

Mr. Breen

I am sorry for calling any Deputy a coward.

Mr. Coburn

Meet me outside and I will tell you whether I am or not.

An Ceann Comhairle

It is a very bad opening for a new session, if Deputies lose their tempers and abuse, each other.

Mr. Breen

I would not advocate that any man take up arms unless I took them up myself in defence of the cause for which I was paid. I was not paid for taking up arms, but I took them up in defence of this country. If Deputy Coburn or Deputy Dillon thinks I am paid for what I did, I reply that I could never be paid, because I am a wrecked man.

Mr. Coburn

I did——

Mr. Breen

I will not interrupt you when you are talking.

An Ceann Comhairle

The Deputy should address the Chair.

Mr. Breen

I did not interrupt. Deputy Dillon, who would have plunged this country into war if he could, but who would not have the guts to go out himself and defend it. I was shocked to find that there was an attack on the Ministers, Deputies Ryan and MacEntee and others—a low-down attack. We heard from the lips of Deputy Dillon that there was something scurrilous said in my county from the platforms in Cashel—which Deputy Mulcahy knows all about—that there was bribery and corruption, which Deputies know all about. I would have challenged Deputy Mulcahy or his henchmen in Cashel to prove that.

I fought this election clean. I said nothing hard to any man but fought it on policy. I very rarely speak in this House, but when I am challenged I feel I have the right to defend myself. If any man challenges me inside or outside this House, I will defend myself to the best of my ability and with the weapons I decide on, not with the weapons they decide on. If I had taken the care of myself that Deputy Coburn took of himself, I would be able to deal with him as he wished. There was a weapon which John Colt made and which made all men equal, and if Deputy Coburn wishes it, we can have it out at any time he chooses. I am sorry I have taken up the time of the House.

An Ceann Comhairle

The Deputy is quite out of order.

Mr. Breen

Why were not the other speakers pulled up? I did not want to intervene. In conclusion, I hope that the spirit of this Dáil will not continue to be as it has been to-day. I hope all sides will come together. We are all Irishmen and there is no use in throwing mud at one another. We may not like one another, but we need not hate one another. I bear no ill-will to any man—much as that may surprise Deputies on the opposite benches. I never did a bad turn in my life, nor would I wish to do a bad turn if I could do a good one. I ask members of the House, for the sake of the country, to unite and give the country a chance, which it has not had in the last 700 years.

Mr. D. Morrissey

May I make an appeal that the discussion should now end? It is no credit to this House or to the country. It is the most lamentable thing that has happened for years, and no good purpose can be served by a continuance on what has gone on from the time this motion was moved. Things have been said here to-day, many of them in heat, that I am sure those who uttered them will afterwards be sorry for. There can be no good purpose in continuing this kind of discussion. It is something we should all put behind us and forget as quickly as we can, for the sake of the dignity of Parliament and for the sake of the country.

Mr. Davin

I did not intend to intervene in the discussion at all, and will be very brief. I fought my own election campaign—the eleventh in my career—in a clean and straight forward way.

An Ceann Comhairle

There seems to be a general desire to fight the election.

Mr. Davin

I fought it without reference to any candidate who opposed me. I endeavoured to draw your attention, by way of interruption or question, to the fact that Deputy Corry was, in my opinion, using the language of incitement, by stating there were more people going to be put into some graveyard. While I was trying to do so, Deputy Killilea used language, which, on reflection, he will probably agree was not proper in this House, and I in return used language which I am now prepared to say I regret having used. I withdraw it, and I ask Deputy Killilea to withdraw what he said.

Mr. Killilea

I am quite prepared to withdraw any reference I made to Deputy Davin.

Mr. Cogan

I wish——

Deputies

Sit down.

An Ceann Comhairle

Deputy Cogan.

Mr. Cogan

I must say that I stood up to speak on four occasions, and I should be allowed to express my views briefly. The team which has been proposed to form the Government has, in my opinion, not given full satisfaction. Last year when this question of approving of the Taoiseach's nomination of Ministers was submitted to the House, we of the Farmers' Party took up a certain attitude. We said: "The Government Party are now in a minority. We consider that the Fianna Fáil Party, though they have been unsatisfactory in the past, should be given an opportunity to carry on as a minority Party in this House, and of showing whether they are prepared to co-operate with other Parties when those other Parties are in a majority"—as we were in the last Dáil. We had hoped that a better spirit would prevail. We had hoped that the attitude which we took up when we came into this House would be reflected by other Parties. Instead of that, we found that our attitude was venomously misrepresented throughout the country.

Deputy Fagan said that we had a chance of defeating the Government last year. We certainly had, but for the purpose of giving an opportunity to the Fianna Fáil Party to adjust themselves to a new situation, a situation in which they were in a minority, we allowed the Government to be formed. In the light of 12 months' experience, we regret that we allowed that Government to be formed. We found every measure adopted by the Government was not in the interests of agriculture but was hostile to agriculture; we found that every measure proposed by the Government was to the detriment of agriculture; we found that every proposal put up by our Party and submitted in a reasonable manner to the House was turned down, completely ignored. The representations we made in this House were publicly, insulted.

I understand that Ministers are not supposed to intervene in this particular discussion, but the Minister for Agriculture did intervene with the observation "To Hell with exports." How can we expect agriculture to progress if we have our Minister for Agriculture—or the Deputy who is proposed for that position—shouting here "To Hell with exports"? Surely we have to import some goods and surely it will be recognised that there is nothing we can export except agricultural produce. Yet we have the man who is proposed for the position of Minister for Agriculture shouting here "To Hell with exports." If that is to be the position, there is little future for agriculture.

I have no intention of dwelling upon the charges made against Deputy Breen, but Deputy Breen made a charge against certain individuals who are not in this House. He accused the farmer, whose farm he purchased, of being engaged in a no-rate campaign. I know from personal knowledge that there is no truth whatever in that statement.

Mr. MacEntee

That is not so; we have the leaflets.

Mr. Cogan

The Minister had better keep himself quiet. I say there is no truth in that suggestion. These unfortunate people——

Mr. L. Walsh

Chair.

An Ceann Comhairle

What Deputy Cogan is referring to is not related to this debate. In any case it is a question of fact which the Chair cannot decide.

Mr. Cogan

I deny that these people were engaged in a no-rate campaign, and it is most unjust to accuse them of such a thing.

Mr. L. Walsh

Chair.

Mr. Cogan

We as a Farmers' Party cannot support the team that has been proposed by the Taoiseach. First of all, there is the Minister for Finance, who publicly stated that the farmers were getting off too lightly in the matter of taxation. He publicly proclaimed his policy of taxing them still more severely. How could we stand over the election of such a Minister, or over the election of the proposed Minister for Industry and Commerce, who has made a small group of people so wealthy that they are determined to keep Fianna Fáil in power for all time through the power of their purses? How could we support the man who is proposed as Minister for Local Government and Public Health, the man who has ruthlessly suppressed one of the best county councils in Eire, a farmers' county council? These are the persons the Taoiseach has proposed and these are the men we will oppose in every possible way.

Mr. Everett

I regret the direction that this discussion has taken. We have had frequent references to the elections and the speeches made during the elections. I have taken my part in the elections and I criticised the Ministers and their policy, but the people accepted not my view, but the view put forward by the Government. The Taoiseach has been appointed and he has the right to select his team to form a Government. For that team I am going to vote, not that I agree with the proposed Ministers in their policy, but because I accept the verdict of the people.

No concrete case has been put up against the efficiency of any particular Minister, though various speeches have been made. There was a speech made against the Minister for Agriculture. He represents one of the best agricultural constituencies in Eire. He has been returned at the head of the poll for that constituency. If the people in that area have elected him at the head of the poll, I suggest that we should meet their wishes by supporting the team which includes the Minister for Agriculture. I am prepared to use my position in this House in criticising the policies of different Ministers when their Departments come under consideration, but I am not prepared to misinterpret the views of the electors, which were given in an unmistakable manner when they elected Fianna Fáil in such numbers, notwithstanding all the arguments we put up to try to convince them of the mistake of electing that Party. I am prepared within the next five years to try to convert the people and to show them the mistake they made. At the moment, however, I and the members of this Party, representing a rising section of the community, are prepared to vote for the team proposed by the Taoiseach.

Mr. Cafferky

The opening of the Twelfth Dáil has been very disappointing, judging by the speeches made here to-day and the reactions of the various Parties. I do not intend to go over the election campaign. If I and other Deputies did so, I expect we might have to remain here all night. We were not sent here for that purpose, anyway. I would like to protest very emphatically against the action of the Minister for Local Government in dissolving the Roscommon County Council. We have nothing against the Minister as an individual, but as Minister for Local Government we feel that he acted in a very high-handed manner. After all, the Roscommon County Council was an elected body.

Mr. O Ceallaigh

Is this in order?

An Ceann Comhairle

What has the dissolution of the Roscommon County Council to do with the nominations of members of the Government? It is merely a matter of administration which the Deputy will have an opportunity of discussing on another occasion.

Mr. L. Walsh

Why did the members not do their job as a county council? If they did, they would not have been dissolved.

Mr. Cafferky

In reply to the Chair, what I have said bears this relation to the matter under discussion: We are asked to support the nomination of Deputy MacEntee as Minister for Local Government.

An Ceann Comhairle

The Deputy will have every opportunity on the Estimate of discussing the whole matter.

Mr. Cafferky

As we are now being asked to nominate Deputy MacEntee as Minister for Local Government, we must give an explanation why we propose to oppose that nomination, and the explanation is that he deliberately and dictatorially abolished the Roscommon County Council because they were not prepared to accede to his demands. That is why I have mentioned the Roscommon County Council. I hold that the people of Roscommon and the elected representatives of Roscommon know more about the position in Roscommon than Deputy MacEntee.

An Ceann Comhairle

Under the Constitution, you are not electing the Minister as Minister for Local Government.

Mr. Cafferky

What are we electing him for?

An Ceann Comhairle

You are electing him as a member of the Government.

Mr. Cafferky

He is for that Department.

An Ceann Comhairle

No, though he may be later. The House is not nominating him as such.

Mr. Cafferky

If it is only as a Minister, as you suggested, I will agree with your suggestion. But I will say this much: that he is not fit to occupy a position as Minister. That is my candid belief, and it is also the belief of many other members of this House. So far as Deputy Dr. Ryan is concerned, as an individual he is all right, but we are of the opinion that a better man for that position could be found even on the Fianna Fáil Benches, because he has not handled the agricultural position in the way we would like him to have done. A Fine Gael Deputy made it quite clear to us that we got a chance to remove Deputy Dr. Ryan but that we did not avail of that opportunity. I should like to remind the Fine Gael Deputy that we gave Deputy Dr. Ryan a chance. Being here as a Party for the first time, it was only reasonable and democratic to give him a chance. We gave him that chance and we found that he failed in his stewardship. We have not the power to remove him now, but we will protest by going into the Lobby and voting against Deputy MacEntee and Deputy Dr. Ryan as prospective Ministers.

Mr. O'Leary

It is a sham protest.

Mr. Cafferky

You will get a chance to speak: just keep quiet. I deplore the type of debate that has been carried on here for the last hour and a half. Certainly, it is a disgrace to the House and to the country and it has not carried any weight. If the people outside knew what has gone on here to-day, I think we would need more than ponies and traps to take them to the polls next time to vote for any Party. It is a disgrace and I want to register my protest.

Question put.

The Dáil divided: Tá, 77; Níl, 49.

Tá

• Aiken, Frank.
• Allen, Denis.
• Bartley, Gerald.
• Beegan, Patrick.
• Blaney, Neal.
• Boland, Gerald.
• Boland, Patrick.
• Brady, Brian.
• Brady, Seán.
• Breathnach, Cormac.
• Breen, Daniel.
• Brennan, Martin.
• Brennan, Thomas.
• Breslin, Cormac.
• Briscoe, Robert.
• Buckley, Seán.
• Burke, Patrick (Co. Dublin).
• Butler, Bernard.
• Carter, Thomas.
• Childers, Erskine H.
• Colbert, Michael.
• Colley, Harry.
• Corry, Martin J.
• Crowley, Fred H.
• Daly, Francis J.
• Derrig, Thomas.
• de Valera, Eamon.
• Dwyer, William.
• Everett, James.
• Flynn, Stephen.
• Fogarty, Andrew.
• Fogarty, patrick J.
• Friel, John.
• Furlong, Walter.
• Gorry, Patrick J.
• Harris, Thomas.
• Healy, John B.
• Humphreys, Francis.
• Kennedy, Michael J.
• Killilea, Mark.
• Kilroy, James.
• Kissane, Eamon.
• Lemass, Seán F.
• Little, Patrick J.
• Loughman, Frank.
• Lydon, Michael F.
• Lynch, James B.
• McCann, John.
• McCarthy, Seán.
• MacEntee, Seán.
• Maguire, Ben.
• Moran, Michael.
• Morrissey, Michael.
• Moylan, Seán.
• O Briain, Donnchadh.
• O Ceallaigh, Seán T.
• O Cléirigh, Mícheál.
• O'Connor, John S.
• O'Grady, Seán.
• O'Leary, John.
• O'Loghlen, Peter J.
• O'Reilly, Matthew.
• O'Rourke, Daniel.
• O'Sullivan, Ted.
• Pattison, James P.
• Rice, Bridget M.
• Ruttledge, Patrick J.
• Ryan, James.
• Ryan, Mary B.
• Ryan, Robert.
• Sheridan, Michael.
• Skinner, Leo B.
• Smith, Patrick.
• Traynor, Oscar.
• Walsh, Laurence.
• Walsh, Richard.
• Ward, Conn.

Níl

• Anthony, Richard S.
• Beirne, John.
• Bennett, George C.
• Blowick, Joseph.
• Browne, Patrick.
• Burke, Patrick (Clare).
• Cafferky, Dominick.
• Coburn, James.
• Cogan, Patrick.
• Coogan, Eamonn.
• Cosgrave, Liam.
• Costello, John A.
• Davin, William.
• Dillon, James M.
• Dockrell, Henry M.
• Dockrell, Maurice E.
• Donnellan, Michael.
• Doyle, Peadar S.
• Fagan, Charles.
• Finucane, Patrick.
• Flanagan, Oliver J.
• Halliden, Patrick J.
• Heskin, Denis.
• Hughes, James.
• Keating, John.
• Keyes, Michael.
• Larkin, James.
• Lynch, Finian.
• McAuliffe, Patrick.
• MacEoin, Seán.
• McFadden, Michael Og.
• McMenamin, Daniel.
• Mongan, Joseph W.
• Morrissey, Daniel.
• Mulcahy, Richard.
• Murphy, Timothy J.
• Norton, William.
• O'Driscoll, Patrick F.
• O'Higgins, Thomas F.
• O'Neill, Eamonn.
• O'Reilly, Patrick.
• O'Reilly, Thomas.
• O'Sullivan, Martin.
• Redmond, Bridget M.
• Reidy, James.
• Reynolds, Mary.
• Roddy, Martin.
• Rogers, Patrick J.
• Sheldon, William A.W.

Tellers: Tá: Deputies Kissane and Kennedy: Níl: Deputies Doyle and Bennett.

Question declared carried.

An Taoiseach

Mar is eol don Dáil, ní fuláir dom á chur in iúl don Uachtarán gur aontuigh an Dáil le hainmneacha na gcomhaltai den Rialtas agus, mar sin, molaim go ndéanfar sos ar obair na Dála go dti 8.45 a chlog.

Risteárd Ua Maolchatha

An eol do gach einne cad é an obair a déanfar nuair thiocfaidh an Dáil ar ais?

Mr. Lemass

I move that the Adjournment be taken not later than 10.30 p.m.

An Ceann Comhairle

It is proposed to sit at 3 o'clock on Monday. Deputies should be made aware of that arrangement.

Mr. Dillon

I take it there is no prospect of the Dáil being required to sit later than 10.30 p.m.? I understand that it is the intention to give the Government certain formal items. I suppose 10.30 p.m. is a safe enough hour?

Mr. Lemass

It is intended to take the Adjournment when the business is disposed of. I assume that will be earlier than 10.30 p.m.

Mr. Dillon

Would it not be wiser to say that the House will adjourn when the business to be disposed of has been disposed of? Something might arise and we want to give the Government this business to-night.

Mr. O Ceallaigh

When the business has been disposed of, but not later than 10.30 p.m.

An Ceann Comhairle

A definite hour must be fixed.

Mr. Lemass

10.30 p.m. is reasonably safe.

General Mulcahy

Perhaps we would not have this worry if we were quite clear as to what business we are to face when we come back. I understand that we are simply taking the supplementary Order Paper and, so far as we are concerned, this is financial business which was transacted by the last Dáil and which must be transacted here. We are prepared to take, in a formal way, item No. 1, which is a genral resolution; item No. 2, the Financial Motions for 1944-45; the Collection of Taxes (Confirmation) Bill, all stages; the Estimates for Public Services already passed; and the introduction of the Finance Bill. Is it the idea that the Second Reading of the Finance Bill will be taken at 3 o'clock on Monday?

Mr. O Ceallaigh

Yes.

Business suspended at 7.30 p.m. and resumed at 8.45 p.m.