asked the Minister for External Affairs whether his attention has been drawn to a series of articles appearing in the American Press from Mr. William B. Ziff; whether he interviewed this man while he was in Ireland; whether he is aware that, in the Denver Register of February 16th, 1947, it is alleged by him (i) that 10,000,000 lb. of kosher meat was being shipped to Europe from this country, for distribution amongst Jewish displaced persons, at a cost of about $3,000,000, and (ii) that the Irish are subject to buying pressures which make them a satellite of the English economy, and that Ireland has not been able to buy in the dollar market, though it would prefer to deal with America; and whether he will employ the resources of the information division of his Department to correct the falsehoods and misleading innuendoes in this statement.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Articles in American Press.
I have seen some articles in the American Press by Mr. Ziff. I have, of course, no responsibility for what appears in these articles. Mr. Ziff called on me when he visited Dublin, as thousands of other visitors have done. Mr. Ziff does not purport to quote me, nor has he attributed to me any statement which he has made. I did not give him an interview, as implied in the question, and there is no suggestion in his articles that I did.
The two particular statements referred to by the Deputy are, of course, not accurate. Inaccurate statements about the position and the affairs of this country, however, frequently appear in the foreign Press and many of them couched in a much less friendly tone than those of Mr. Ziff. It is not the practice of the Information Bureau to issue denials or to attempt to correct misstatements in every case brought to their attention. We confine our denials or corrections to statements that appear to be of major importance and such as might do grievous damage to the country's interests in case they were not corrected.
I do not see any special reason for departing from our normal practice in the case to which the Deputy refers.
Is the Minister aware that in the article referred to the following words occur:—
"The Premier, Éamon de Valéra, who is regarded as Ireland's George Washington, is easier to see than the average American bank president——"
This, by the way, contains the implication that Mr. Ziff was received by "George Washington". The final paragraph of the article says:—
"The fuel shortage has been, because of purchasing power"——
The Deputy may not quote letters, articles or telegrams at Question Time.
May I submit to you, Sir, that the question relates to statements made by this gentleman and am I am not permitted to substantiate——
The Deputy may not quote letters, articles or telegrams in a question. This is not a debate.
Very well. May I inquire of the Minister for External Affairs whether this gentleman, Ziff, is the same Ziff who organised a meeting in New York, summoning the people of New York to assemble in their thousands in order to help to free Ireland and Palestine? Did the Minister for External Affairs send a message to that meeting and was that meeting part of the general world Communist conspiracy, to provoke ill-will between Great Britain and the United States?
The Deputy may not ask irrelevant supplementary questions or make irrelevant statements.
I am asking is Mr. Ziff the particular Ziff who interviewed the Taoiseach and did Mr. Ziff at his meeting in New York——
That is a separate question. There is nothing about a meeting in the question.
I am asking is he the same man. I want to know is this Ziff, the other Ziff?
There is not going to be a debate on Ziff.
I want to find out is the Taoiseach writing to Mr. Ziff on behalf of this country. If Mr. Ziff——
Let the Deputy ask the question in the ordinary way and I will answer. I do not propose to answer it now.
I bet you will not.
If the Deputy wants to ask any questions he can ask them in the way he asked this question, but the Deputy is not to imply, because I refuse to answer any irrelevant supplementary questions, that I cannot answer them.
You will get plenty of opportunity.
All right.