asked the Minister for the Gaeltacht whether the completed inquiry into the accounts of Gaeltarra Éireann for 1958-59 revealed an over-valuation of the following items of stock:—toys, knitwear, linen and tweed; and if he will indicate the amount of over-valuation of wool and waste at Teelin Store; and of wool in Dunkineely Store; and the amount of such over-valuation in respect of each of the above items.
Ceisteanna-Questions Oral Answers. - Gaeltarra Éireann Accounts.
21.
Léirigh an fiosrú a rinneadh sa chás seo gur ar stocanna d'earraí críochnaithe agus de bhunábhar i dtionscal na mbréagán amháin a rinneadh róluacháil.
22.
asked the Minister for the Gaeltacht the description of the stock item which was listed twice in the 1958-59 accounts of Gaeltarra Éireann, indicating whether it related to tweed, linen, knitwear or toys; and whether it was duplicated, or consisted of the addition of two separate amounts.
Is amhlaidh a tharla an róluacháil stocanna trí sreath stoc-liostaí a hullmhaíodh le haghaidh gnóthaí árachais a chur isteach imeasc na stoc-liostaí a bhí á n-ullmhú i gcúrsa an stóráirimh. Bhí earraí éagsúla sa stoc a bhí i gceist agus ba le tionscal na mbréagán a bhaineadar uile.
23.
asked the Minister for the Gaeltacht whether as a result of the inquiry he caused to be made into the accounts of Gaeltarra Éireann as published for 1958-59, he is now satisfied that the loss as shown at £82,438 is a correct figure; and, if not, what the correct figure is.
De bharr an dearmaid a luaigh mé sa bhfreagra a thugas ar an Teachta ar an 16 Márta, bhí easnamh de £14,114 10. 0. sa chaillteanas trádála a taispeánadh i gCuntaisí Ghaeltarra Éireann i leith na bliana dar chríoch an 31 Márta, 1959.
Was anybody dismissed or chastised for that performance?
You were.
Certainly not. My efforts were much more commendable than the efforts of certain other members of the House.
Deputy Lindsay has proved your skulduggery and we shall get after another case if you interrupt like that again.
And the promotion of rackets will not pay.
Sir, I wish to raise a matter with regard to answering questions in Irish——
Is "skulduggery" an epithet which should be applied to any member of this House?
Certainly, yes.
That is mild compared with what could be said.
The Deputy says "mild". The Deputy was responsible for the death of one man——
(Interruptions.)
Did the Chair hear that? The Tánaiste has just accused me of having the life of one man on my hands. I object to that remark and I want to say, here and now that the responsibility for that rests upon the present Government and the Attorney General of this day.
It rests upon the man who made a charge he could not substantiate.
The charges were substantiated and the Attorney General had to enter "Information refused."
And the Comptroller and Auditor General has substantiated the foundation for the charges and now admits that the stocks were wrong and certifies the stocks were wrong. But that side of the House deliberately tried to hide—
The allegations were proved in court to be unfounded.
Counsel for the Attorney General applied to have informations refused, a course unknown hitherto in our Courts when, in fact, those charges were going to be returned for trial.
And the Comptroller and Auditor General has shown you up.
Order.
There is no association between the two things, and Deputy Sweetman knows that well.
There is an association, a clear association.
There is a clear association between all these things but an effort is being made to mix the whole matter up.
This happened in 1956.
It happened under Deputy Lindsay's predecessor.
A sum of £14,000 was omitted from the Public Accounts and that omission was covered up.
And that has been proved by the Comptroller and Auditor General.
The allegation was that £100,000 had been stolen from Gaeltarra Éireann. That allegation was proved to be unfounded.
It was not proved to be unfounded and the Attorney-General was used by the Government to withdraw the case from the court.
And all Deputy Lindsay succeeded in doing was in getting one man to commit suicide.
If that is all that is on the Deputy's conscience, it is a good thing.
I never suggested the Deputy had a conscience.
Order. These personalities should cease.
The Minister for Lands is responsible for cloaking this from the Committee of Public Accounts. It was successfully cloaked until the Comptroller and Auditor General discovered it.
It was not cloaked.
And the Minister for Lands was at the time the responsible Minister.
The Minister for Lands, as Minister for the Gaeltacht, cleared up the mess left there by his predecessor, Deputy Lindsay.
In view of the fact that the information sought for in these questions, which were answered in Irish, is of importance, I was wondering whether, since the questions deal with a matter of public importance, it would be possible to make available to the members of the House a translation of the replies. These questions deal with a matter of public interest.
I am following the example laid down. Deputy Lindsay is the man who initiated the practice we have been following. If a Deputy asks for a translation I never refuse it, but I think it is a bit late in the day to make English compulsory in Dáil Éireann.
It would be much better to make it compulsory rather than use Irish as a vehicle for fraud.
As one of the neutrals here, may I be permitted to say that courtesy is due to myself and others inasumuch as we should know what is going on; when the question is asked in English the Minister should answer in English so that we will know what is happening.