asked the Minister for External Affairs if this country has been decreed an underdeveloped nation by the O.E.E.C. or any other similar international organisation.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Classification of Ireland as Underdeveloped Nation.
This country has not been decreed an underdeveloped nation by the O.E.E.C. or any international organisation. The Deputy may, however, have in mind that the O.E.E.C., in the discussions on the proposed Free Trade Area in Europe, has recognised the need to grant special treatment in such a scheme to some member countries, of which Ireland is one, which are considered to be in process of economic development and which could not, therefore, be expected to assume from the outset all the obligations involved in membership of a Free Trade Area.