asked the Minister for Finance if he will state whether, apart from Ireland, any other country in the sterling area is bound by statute law to maintain fixed parity with the English pound sterling; and, if so, if he will give the names of such countries.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Parity with English Pound.
All the well-governed countries which I know of in the sterling area and outside it endeavour to maintain stability for as long a period as possible in the international exchange value of their domestic currencies. Any farmer with a beast to sell, the price of which is determined by the export price, will appreciate that there are already enough uncontrollable elements operating to make the price he receives uncertain without giving the buyer the excuse that he has no means of knowing how many Irish pounds he will receive for a foreigner's cheque when he sells the beast abroad. Again, most people who buy goods from abroad like to look before they leap and to know when they are placing an order, not only the price of the goods in terms of foreign currency, but also what they will cost in Irish currency when the account has to be settled.
Since September, 1949, no country in the sterling area, so far as I am aware, has altered the official value of its currency in terms of sterling or United States dollars. The Irish Government then in office decided to depreciate the Irish pound in step with the British depreciation of the pound sterling in terms of United States dollars. Sterling area countries, which are members of the International Monetary Fund, have fixed parities in gold and consequently are in a fixed relationship with each other and with the pound sterling.
I cannot undertake to supply information about the domestic legislation of other countries, but I have no reason to assume that the Governments, currency and exchange control authorities of other sterling area countries have not been acting for the past two years in accordance with their domestic law in maintaining the stability of their currencies in terms of sterling.
I wish, through you, Sir, to protest at the refusal of the Minister to answer the question which he was asked. The Minister was asked by me a simple question, namely, if he will state the other countries which were bound by statute law to maintain fixed parity with the British pound sterling. In reply to that question, the Minister has made a rambling speech about other matters, but has not answered the question I asked. I now ask for an answer to the question.
The Deputy's difficulty, as I see it, is that he not only wants to write the question but the answer.
I want an answer to that question, not an answer to another question.
I cannot answer as to what is the domestic law in any one of these countries without taking a case through the Supreme Court there. I have given the Deputy the facts—that they have kept their currency steady in relation to sterling for the last two years; that before that New Zealand had altered it as it appreciated its pound in relation to sterling; that when the pound sterling was devalued, the Government here jumped within a couple of hours to devalue our pound.
The question which I asked was to state if there was any other country in the world which was bound by statute law to maintain parity with the British currency. He has not answered that question and I now ask him to answer it.
I have told the Deputy that I cannot interpret the statute law of other countries. If the Deputy thinks that they were not observing their domestic statute law by maintaining parity with the pound sterling, let him go and take a case in these countries and find out for himself. I cannot interpret their law.