asked the Minister for Finance if he is satisfied that the present operation of the Central Bank Act, 1971, is such as to ensure the statutory independence of the bank.

Yes.

The Minister is taking the Ceann Comhairle's advice and being extremely brief. Will he comment on the suggestion that during the recent bank strike the board of the Central Bank were contacted on a number of occasions by the Department in relation to the dispute that took place there? If that took place, will he accept that that does not amount to total independence of the State and that the answer to the question is that independence does not exist?

The Deputy's question was to ask me if I am satisfied that the present operation of the Central Bank Act is such as to ensure the statutory independence of the bank. My answer to that question was yes.

That seems to refer to Question No. 9.

Will the Minister agree that that independence was compromised in the recent Central Bank dispute by virtue of the fact that the Government were in touch with the board of the bank about the matter on a number of occasions? That is hardly independence.

None of the statements made by the Deputy is well founded.

How can the Minister reconcile his brief reply with the claim he has made in this House more than once recently that he and the Government managed to keep down interest rates in the first six months of last year when they were going up elsewhere as this is the function of the Central Bank? Of course, the Government can cause interest rates to rise because of their policies.

The Deputy is well aware of the relationship between the Minister for Finance and the Governor of the Central Bank. There is no conflict between the statutory independence of the Central Bank and occasional or even regular discussions of matters of mutual interest between the Governor of the Central Bank and the Minister for Finance.

The Minister did not seem to hear me. I asked him how he reconciled his answer with his claim that the Government, not the Central Bank, managed to pin down interest rates at least for the first six months of last year before Government policies were a direct cause of the huge increase. From his own mouth he said in this House that the Government managed to pin down the interest rates. Surely that is not consistent with the independence of or consultations with the Central Bank?

I dispute the second part of the Deputy's allegation. It is not true. Neither is it difficult for me to reconcile what I said about interest rates with the independence of the Central Bank.

Will the Minister accept that the Government should not claim that they kept down interest rates when that is not their function? Instead, should he not acknowledge that the Government can bring pressure to increase interest rates because of their mistaken policies?

The Deputy is now being inconsistent in his questions.

I am not.

I am calling Question No. 5.