Vol. 236 No. 7
asked the Taoiseach (a) the names of the persons who accompanied him on his tour to Japan and back, (b) the function of each person, (c) the total cost and the cost of each particular person, (d) who bore the cost, (e) the cost of each person to the Exchequer and (f) the business done by each person.
3.
asked the Taoiseach if he will make a statement on his recent world tour; and if it is expected that any benefits will result from it from the economic point of view.
: I propose with your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, to take Questions Nos. 2 and 3 together.
I was accompanied on my recent visit to India and Japan by my wife and by the Secretary, Department of External Affairs and his wife, the representative in Ireland of Gulf Oil Corporation and his wife, representatives of the three Dublin daily newspapers and a representative of Radio-Telefís Éireann.
The function of the Secretary of the Department of External Affairs was to advise me on the foreign affairs aspects of my official meetings and also to handle the details of my official programme which included meetings with three Heads of State and the Prime Ministers and Foreign Ministers of four countries. As the invitation from the Governments of India and Japan included wives, it was appropriate that the Secretary's wife should be present to assist my wife in carrying out her official engagements. Both the Secretary and his wife acted as interpreters on occasions.
The representative of the Gulf Oil Corporation was concerned with those aspects of the trip relating to the launching of the tanker Universe Ireland in Yokohama and my meetings with senior executives of the company in various cities.
Representatives of the Press and RTÉ were present to report on the trip for those media.
There was no cost to the Exchequer in respect of the travelling and hotel expenses of my wife or myself as we made the trip at the invitation of Gulf Oil Corporation for the purpose of the dedication by my wife of the tanker "Universe Ireland" in Yokohama. Neither was there cost involved to the Exchequer in respect of our stay in India and part of our stay in Japan when we were the guests of the Governments of these countries.
The total cost to the Exchequer including the travelling expenses of the Secretary of the Department of External Affairs and his wife, the cost of the customary presents to top official personages in the host countries and incidental expenses, is expected to be less than £2,500.
There was no cost to the Exchequer in respect of any other person who accompanied me on the tour.
During my visits to the various countries I had the opportunity of meeting not alone the leaders of those countries, but also prominent industrialists, representatives of the press and television, our missionaries and other members of the Irish communities. I also had some contacts with industrialists in the United States on my return journey.
Throughout my tour I was afforded a unique opportunity, not alone of having a useful exchange of views with the Governments of the countries I visited on matters of mutual concern, but also of presenting an up-to-date impression of modern Ireland. I naturally availed myself of every opportunity to explore the possibilities for the development of our export outlets and for new external investment in this country.
As Deputies will have seen from my reported statements in the press, I took advantage of my meeting with the Japanese Foreign Minister to raise with him the question of the conclusion of a trade agreement between this country and Japan on which there had been inconclusive negotiations last year. As a result, we both agreed on the reopening of negotiations and these are to commence shortly at official level.
As I said on my return, I found the attitude towards Ireland everywhere to be one of great warmth and friendliness but our capacity, ability and aspirations were not generally as well known as they might be in some of those countries. Because of the importance of personal contact at all levels, I returned convinced of the value of such visits and I observed that members of Governments and business organisations of other countries appear to make these contacts to a far greater extent than we do.
: Apart from the Taoiseach's conviction as to the value to be gained by such contacts, has there been any actual value to this country since his return?
: That is a naïve question that I would not bother answering.
: Has there been any actual value?
: You cannot write goodwill on a balance sheet.
: A cynic is someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.
: Does the Taoiseach consider it appropriate that the Head of an Irish Government should put himself under an obligation to a commercial company in this way and would it not have been far better if he had come to the House and asked the House to vote the cost of the journey?
: That would have given rise to many more questions of the type that Deputy Lindsay has just asked. On the contrary, I put myself under no obligation to this company. There were no strings attached.
: And our Civil Service——
: Why not let me answer the question since the Deputy was ungracious enough to put it down?
: It is not ungracious to complain that our Civil Service was put into the pay of foreign commercials.
: There were no strings attached, nor will there be strings attached. A certain newspaper made a similar type of suggestion in one editorial but was gracious enough at a later time to acknowledge that the tour had made a fairly decent contribution to Ireland's position abroad and to our economy.
: Hear, hear.
: Whether or not there are strings attached, does the Taoiseach think it appropriate that the head of the Irish Government should demean himself to be under an obligation for tickets, expenses — whatever you call it—to a commercial company? I do not think any of us do and, in saying that, I am not suggesting there are any strings attached.
: Should I have accepted an invitation by Deputy Sweetman's own company to open Silvermines and to have lunch with them and accept a modest gift from them?
: That is a different thing.
: Would the Taoiseach indicate if he was correctly reported as saying, in the course of his tour, that he did not believe Partition would end in his lifetime?
: That is a separate question.
: That is a gross misinterpretation of what I said.
: The Taoiseach has not denied it since.
: Nobody asked a question about it or pursued the matter in the newspapers.
: May I take it that the Taoiseach was incorrectly reported?
: It was a gross misinterpretation of what I said.
: Will the Taoiseach say what the position is in regard to dues by the Gulf Oil Company?
: That is ladies' curling pins.
: If Deputy Donegan wants an answer to that question he can put it down. I can assure him that no matter what dues are paid it has no relevance whatsoever to the invitation I got from the Gulf Oil Company.
: I accept that.
