asked the Minister for External Affairs if the statement which he is reported to have made recently in America to the effect that there were no Communists in the Republic of Ireland was based on official information.

No.

Seeing that the Minister was in America as the official representative of the Government, are not people entitled to take his statement as being an official statement?

Is that a question or a speech?

A question.

One could not help but take it as official, when it was made by a Minister on a visit on official affairs to the United States. How are we to know when statements are personal and when they are official?

That is another question.

I think it is a very serious matter.

It is a question.

What is the question?

How are we to know when the Minister is talking officially? We have had several instances.

That is not the question which was asked. The question asked was whether the statement made by me was based on official information. I spoke officially, but I did not speak from official information.

A typical lawyer's reply.

I beg your pardon. Now that you have asked for an explanation you will get it. I was asked at a Press interview whether it was true that there was a strong Communist Party here. I said there was no Communist Party in this portion of Ireland. No doubt, as a result of some of the misrepresentations made by some of the Deputy's colleagues, false impressions got abroad in some other countries.

Will the Minister consult Deputy Davin, who made a statement here the other evening?

I am aware of several statements which were made by Deputy MacEntee.

Is the Minister aware that very prominent clerics, including Father Paul Walsh, have made statements similar to those statements made by members on this side of the House, and does he doubt those statements?

I am not aware that any prominent member of the Church has ever made allegations similar to those made by Deputy MacEntee.

Is the Minister not aware that the Bishop of Cork stated publicly that there was a Communist cell in the City of Cork? That statement was publicly made by the Bishop of Cork and the Minister knows it.