asked the Minister for Finance if he will state (a) when work commenced on the Corrib drainage scheme, (b) the area in which it commenced, and (c) whether there was any undue delay in starting the work, and, if so, the reasons therefor.

Work on the Corrib-Clare catchment drainage scheme commenced on the Clare river at Claregalway in April, 1954. I can assure the Deputy that there was no delay on the scheme while, on behalf of the inter-Party Government, I was in charge of the Office of Public Works.

If the Parliamentary Secretary read my question he would have noticed that he has not replied to it at all.

You must not have read the question you put down.

I asked the Parliamentary Secretary to give me a reply to my question. I did not ask anything about the inter-Party Government or anything else of that kind.

But you heard about it.

The question I asked was whether there was any undue delay and, if so, by whom. Was there any undue delay?

If the cap fits you, you can wear it.

Am I entitled to get a reply to that, which is the most important portion of my question?

You have got the reply.

Does the Parliamentary Secretary imply in his answer that there was any obstruction or delay in carrying on that work during my period of office, from 1951 to 1954?

The Parliamentary Secretary ought to answer that. He is funking the question.