The Taoiseach referred to the fact that in 1947, there was no balance of payments deficit. I want to correct that statement. In 1947, there was a balance of payments deficit of £29.8 million. By the following year, 1948 there was a balance of paymentd deficit of £19.6 million, and, in 1950, there was a deficit of £30.2 million. In 1951, there was a balance of payments deficit of £61.6 million. The Taoiseach alleged in the course of his statemet that there was no balance of payments deficit in 1947 and that therefore there was no need to take special budgetary measures. We disagree with that. There was a deficit and the Supplementary Budget of 1947 was introduced to deal with it among other things. On July 18th, 1951, I came into this House and I said—the reference is Volume 126, column 1898 of the Official Reports:—
"If the present rate of disinvestment continues, Ireland will, by 1954, have lost her creditor status. We shall have no external resources to fall back upon in an emergency. To quote Deputy McGilligan, there will be no mainstay for our economic independence and our standard of living; our production and our population must decline."
