asked the Taoiseach whether it is the case, as reported, that he personally ordered an inquiry by the Naval Service into the recent sinking of a trawler off Skerries, County Dublin; and, if so, in pursuance of which statutory or other authority he was acting in so ordering.

Immediately I became aware of this incident I decided, as Head of Government, that it was sufficiently serious to merit full investigation by the appropriate authorities, and I so directed.

Does the Taoiseach not agree that the appropriate Minister to direct an inquiry into an event of this type is Deputy Wilson? What powers was the Taoiseach purporting to exercise in giving any directions in this matter at all?

I gave this direction in pursuance of the general power which resides in me as Head of the Government. The Deputy must realise that this incident took place on a Sunday afternoon and at the early stages it was not quite clear under whose auspices the matter correctly fell. It could have been a naval matter, it could have been a fisheries matter or, as the Deputy rightly pointed out, it could have been a matter for the Minister for Transport. The action I took on that day was to ask all the different bodies who could conceivably have an interest in the matter to look into it immediately. Subsequently it transpired that the matter is one more appropriately dealt with by the Minister for Transport under the legislation which he administers and that course of action is being followed.