asked the Minister for External Affairs whether in the Saorstát-German Trade Agreement there was any special reference to the purchase of horses suitable as troopers; and, if so, whether there was any agreement as to the number of horses to be purchased and as to the price to be paid, and to ask further whether arising out of the agreement, any arrangement was arrived at for the purchase of troop horses in Northern Ireland which had been exported, subject to duty, from the Saorstát.

The Saorstát-German Trade Agreement included provisions for the purchase by Germany of horses of an aggregate value to be determined by the volume of trade between the two countries but no conditions were made regarding the classes of horses to be purchased or the prices to be paid as these were regarded as matters which would be governed respectively by current German requirements and the market values obtaining in the Saorstát at the time of purchase.

The answer to the latter part of the question is in the negative.

Is it not a fact that horses are mainly being purchased by buyers from the North of Ireland, that the price given to the farmers varies from £15 to £20 and the Germans are paying £45. Would the Minister say who gets the balance?

I am not aware that any of the statements made by the Deputy is true.

Would the Minister state if any other trade agreement with any other country has been couched in such indefinite terms as this agreement?

I do not think that any other trade agreement is so definite.