asked the Minister for Justice if he will state why he has not facilitated the issue of the necessary explosives for road work in Co. Tipperary, South Riding.

I am aware that the issue of the necessary explosives for road work in the County Tipperary (South Riding) has in the past been somewhat delayed by some misunderstanding by the military as to the provision of transport, but arrangements have been made whereby in the future the issue of such explosives will be facilitated in every way consistent with the preservation of peace and good order in that area.

May I ask when these arrangements were made and are they in force?

Yes.

And have they been acted on?

Yes.

It must have been since Saturday.

Can the Minister tell us definitely that there is no difficulty in any part of the country preventing road workers carrying on their work because of lack of explosives or the difficulty of getting explosives?

There is a certain difficulty in getting explosives but it is a difficulty inherent in the general situation in some areas, of which South Tipperary would be one. The position is that the County Surveyor and the local authorities there would wish explosives to be stored at the various quarries, or as an alternative, at convenient Gárda stations. The Chief Superintendent of the area is unable to agree that the state of the South Riding of County Tipperary would permit of any such arrangement. The question of the speeding up of military escorts has been taken up on many occasions and the delay in the past seemed to be due to a misapprehension by the Quartermaster at Clonmel as to the provision of transport. That has been remedied now and I hope there will not be any undue delay in the future. There will be a situation in which explosives will be stored at some central place and an escort will be necessary to go with the explosives to the quarry.