asked the Minister for Justice if he can state the number of convictions for drunkenness in the cities of Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford for the years ending December, 1924, 1925, and 1926 and also the total figures (excluding figures for above cities) for the remainder of the Saorstát area during the same period.

The statistics in regard to the convictions for drunkenness are as follows:—

I should add for the information of the Deputy that, in practice, arrests for drunkenness are not made unless the person concerned is in a pretty advanced condition of intoxication.

Would the Minister, in publishing the figures in the Official Report, supply figures to show the percentage to population in each case? I make this request in the interest of Waterford, which seems to be extraordinarily abstemious.