At Question Time to-day I asked the Taoiseach the following question:—
"To ask the Taoiseach whether he has seen a report in a provincial newspaper of a speech by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture in which he is reported as having said that if a change of Government had not taken place a heavy cattle tax would now be in operation which would have completely and for all time killed our cattle export trade, and, if so, if he will state if there is any record in any Department of any proposal by the previous Government to impose a tax on cattle."
I think the report in question appeared in the Roscommon Herald. The following is the reply which the Taoiseach gave:—
"I have seen the report referred to by the Deputy. The statement which it attributes to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture appears to be an expression of opinion, based, no doubt, on a statement made in the Seanad by a member of that House who is believed to represent the views of the Fianna Fáil Party.
There is no record of any decision by the previous Government to impose a tax on cattle."
The Taoiseach was correct when he replied that there is no record of any decision by the previous Government to impose a tax on cattle because, of course, there was never any such proposal made. However, I want to deal with the reference, in the Taoiseach's reply, to a member of the Seanad who, the Taoiseach says, is believed to represent the views of the Fianna Fáil Party. That Senator was dealing with a proposal made earlier in the debate by Senator Johnston who made a suggestion that a levy might be made on exported cattle to create a fund out of which other branches of agriculture might be subsidised. The proposal was turned down immediately in the same debate by the then Minister for Finance, Deputy MacEntee, who was, of course, speaking for the Government. Some days later, the then Taoiseach, Deputy de Valera, said at Limerick: "The Government have not the slightest intention of imposing a tax on cattle for export. No such proposals have been considered or are contemplated." Will the Taoiseach not now agree that the Head of the Government at the time and the then Minister for Finance were the spokesmen for the Government and should be taken as being the spokesmen for the Government—and not a member of the Seanad? Is it too much to ask now— having got from the Taoiseach a statement that "There is no record of any decision by the previous Government to impose a tax on cattle"—that we shall hear no more of this, for which there is no foundation?