asked the Minister for Defence (i) whether he had noted that it had been stated in Dáil Éireann on Thursday, March 31st, that documents relating to the allegations made by the Minister for External Affairs in a speech at Enniscorthy as reported in the Press on February 1st, 1948, had been abstracted from files in his Department; (ii) whether he was satisfied as a result of inquiries that in fact such abstraction of documents had taken place; (iii) whether investigations had been instituted in his Department to ascertain who had taken the documents; (iv) if such investigation was carried out to state the nature of it and the officers by whom it was undertaken; (v) if such an investigation has not yet been made, whether he will now have one carried out either (a) by a committee of senior officers not below the rank of principal officer drawn from Departments other than the Departments of Defence, Industry and Commerce, and the Office of the Commissioners of Public Works, or (b) by the Detective Branch of the Garda Síochána, preferably the latter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Defence Department Documents.
(i) I cannot trace any statement in Dáil Éireann on Thursday, 31st March, that documents had been abstracted from files in the Department of Defence, but it was stated that certain documents were missing. (ii) From inquiries, I am satisfied that the custom has been to destroy delivery documents three years after payment. Hence when documents were sought in January, 1948, with reference to purchases in 1940 and 1941, such documents were not available. (iii) and (iv) Consequently the question of investigation did not arise. (v) If any further inquiries are made by the Detective Branch, I will facilitate them in every way.