asked the Minister for Agriculture whether he has taken over the Land Commission; and if so, would it be by his authority as Minister of the Dáil, that he would function with regard to collection of annuities, etc.
LAND COMMISSION ANNUITIES.
The Land Commission has been taken over by the Provisional Government and is functioning in all its departments under the Provisional Government.
As a supplementary question, I would like to know in case of the failure of any person to pay annuities to the Land Commission, in which the Minister will find that he will have to use machinery for the collection of those annuities, whether he will use the forces of the Irish Republic, or other forces, for the collection of those annuities?
The annuities in question are paid to the account of the Irish nation and should be collected.
That is no answer to my question. I asked what machinery are they going to put in force for the collection. Is it the machinery of Dáil Éireann or any foreign machinery?
The question of using legal machinery to collect annuities has not yet arisen.
If I may ask a supplementary question in connection with that, have the powers of the Irish Land Commission already been vested in the Minister for Agriculture?
Is the member for Kerry in order in putting a supplementary question arising out of another Deputy's question?
ACTING SPEAKER:
The ruling I gave yesterday was that a person who puts down a question is entitled to ask a supplementary question—nobody else.
That, I contend, you cannot sustain.
ACTING SPEAKER:
My object in doing it, I wish to explain is to prevent——
To prevent information getting to the country.
ACTING SPEAKER:
To prevent this assembly from being here for perhaps two or more hours around one particular question. If it is necessary to ask a supplementary question on any matter it can be handed in and the information will be received in the ordinary course.
Of course, I do not want to dispute your ruling, but I suggest, since it is so relevant, that I might be permitted to ask it. You see my impression is that we should know exactly where they stand. The matter was not cleared up in the answer.
ACTING SPEAKER
called on the Minister of Publicity.