When replying to Deputy Cosgrave's question a couple of weeks ago, I had hoped that our negotiations with the British Government would have reached such a stage that I would be able to inform the Dáil before it adjourned whether or not an agreement was likely to be made, or at least when a definite decision would be taken. The House will appreciate, however, that negotiations of the kind we are engaged in almost invariably extend over a long period. Where questions of trade are concerned, a great variety of interests are involved and detailed examination becomes absolutely necessary. Such examination takes time. In the present case a number of external accidents have also contributed to the delay.
I want to assure the Dáil that the Government have been fully alive to the inconvenience and the loss which the protraction of the negotiations has entailed, and we have done everything possible to expedite decisions. At the moment I can only say that I hope that the negotiations will have concluded one way or the other by the end of the month.