asked the Minister for Agriculture whether his attention has been directed to the parliamentary reply given by the Minister for External Affairs, Volume 142, No. 10, column 1477, wherein he stated that he would show 14 acres of land that were redrained at a cost of £67 per acre and that would not feed a snipe; whether he will make a statement as to wherethis land is and whether its condition is correctly described by the Minister for External Affairs' description.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Redrained Land.
The answer to the first part of the question is No. As to the second part, I dealt with a similar question from the Deputy on the 15th May, 1952, and there is nothing I can usefully add to the replies I gave him on that occasion.
Surely the Minister's attention is now directed to the statement made by the Minister for External Affairs in the Official Report of this House, of which I have given him the reference. Has the Minister no comment to make on the allegation that his Department drained land at a cost of £67 per acre, of an area of 14 acres, and that that land would not feed a snipe? Is that a true report of the work done by the officers of the Minister's Department?
Mr. Walsh
I have not seen the report but I will not quarrel as to whether it is one snipe or two snipe.
I am asking the Minister a specific question as to the performance of the officers of his own Department. Does he endorse the statement that they used public funds to reclaim 14 acres of land, at a cost of £67 per acre, which would not feed a snipe?
Mr. Walsh
That is a long question.
That is the question on the Order Paper.
Mr. Walsh
That is a long question. I would have to go back into the administration of the Department at the time the Deputy was in charge of the Department if I were to answer that question.
And squandering public money.
Mr. Walsh
If the Deputy likes, I will argue with him as to what he drained when he was in charge of land reclamation.
Is the Minister so cowardly that he is not prepared to defend the officers of his own Departmentin this House from the slanderous abuse of his own ignorant colleague, the Minister for External Affairs?
Mr. Walsh
I have no purpose in trying to defend the officers of my Department——
You have not the guts of a flea.
Mr. Walsh
I have no purpose in trying to defend the officials of my Department for the maladministration of that Department by the Deputy.
You ought to be ashamed of yourself.
Everyone knows it was not true and you know it too. You ought to have enough courage to say so.
The gallant member is misconducting himself now.