asked the Minister for External Affairs the duration of the present assignment of the Assistant Secretary of his Department as United Nations Representative in the Congo.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - United Nations Representative in Congo.
23.
At the request of the late Secretary-General, Dr. Cruise O'Brien was in May last released temporarily on secondment to a senior post in the Political Division of the United Nations Secretariat.
After taking up duty in New York, Dr. Cruise O'Brien was assigned by the Secretary-General as his personal representative in Katanga. I understood at the time that this assignment would be for a period of from four to six months.
Is it not a fact that this magnificent Irish civil servant is being used, and is being allowed to be used by our Government, as a scapegoat for the failure of the United Nations and the failure of our Government to act——
That is an entirely separate matter.
——with the Afro-Asian countries——
(Interruptions.)
——in preventing Mr. Tshombe re-arming and reequipping——
(Interruptions.)
Our troops were in grave danger as a result of your failure.
Question No. 24.
Does the Taoiseach suggest——
I am not going to try to shout down Deputy McQuillan.
It is your job to answer questions.
I have called Question No. 24.
May I ask the Taoiseach——
(Interruptions.)
It is a disgraceful performance when you see an Irishman being betrayed by his own Government.
The Deputy is, as usual, talking nonsense.
You are sheltering behind him—your own failures, your own mistakes, your own blunders.
Do not get hysterical.
I am not getting hysterical at all.
(Interruptions.)
Our troops were surrounded and taken prisoners.
The shedding of blood never worried any of you people. You were up to your eyes in blood in the Civil War.
Deputies Dr. Browne and McQuillan will have to control themselves. Question No. 24.