I will do my best to deal with each of the five questions. I do regard this, unintentionally on the Minister's part, as an absolutely derisory reply to so many questions. I hope this practice will change. Given the cumulative factor of inflation, £1 down to 17p. since decimalisation, there is an urgent need to review the present range of denominations. Would the Minister consider the introduction of a £2 note or a £1 coin? From the Minister's reply it is apparent that the present copper coinage has virtually no value.

It is very difficult to ask supplementaries on so many questions but what safeguards operate in the Department to combat counterfeiting or forgery, given the present upsurge in crime? We all know of instances of forgeries that have taken place. In respect of coinage and notes, will the Minister tell the House if any of this currency is printed or minted in this country? What is the practice in that regard? Will the Minister not agree that it is long overdue for the Department to commission the designing of a new range of currency? The Minister referred to the designs recommended by the committee chaired by the poet W. B. Yeats. Surely the Minister will agree that this would afford an ideal opportunity for young artists and sculptors to participate in such a competition?

The Minister referred to the changeover during decimalisation from the original farmyard coins to Celtic designs. I suggest that that was a compromise scheme between two sets of coins which did not even blend. On those grounds would the Minister consider having a new set of coins commissioned? It is apparent from the Minister's reply that there is no commitment to the most important area of involving the Central Bank and the Department of Finance, except in one instance in 1966 for the Pearse commemorative coin. Surely the Minister would see that it would be an ideal opportunity to collect extra revenue to engage in that practice, as happens in many other nations. An ideal opportunity was offered to us last year when President Ronald Reagan visited Ireland. Would the Minister consider having an urgent study carried out to re-evaluate the usage of our coins, the duration our paper money stands, with a view to providing a whole new range of coins?

It is not standing; it is nearly walking off by itself.

I appreciate the Chair's co-operation on these very lengthy supplementaries but I have many more questions to ask.

As I said in my reply, I hope we will introduce a 20p coin and issue it before the end of the year. I will have to come before the House with the necessary measures to bring that about. Consultations on the design of the coin between the Arts Council and the Central Bank are in progress and I hope we will come to a decision on that in the near future. I do not intend to issue a £1 coin and, while I am sure there will not be unanimity on the matter, I would refer Deputies to the experience of our near neighbour in the issue of a £1 coin which, as far as I can gather, has not proved to be either very successful or welcome on any large scale by the citizens. Not only is it small but it is heavy, and there is a difficulty in that regard. I have no evidence that there is a need to issue a £2 note as suggested by the Deputy. There is an apparent difficulty in relation to the £1 note which gets grubby very quickly. That is, I am told, because of heavy use rather than because of the lack of quality in the note. Recently Members of the House will have seen that £1 notes seem to be grubbier than they normally tended to be. The reason was that for a time there was an interruption in the flow of the £1 notes from our note printing unit.

In relation to combating counterfeit moneys and forgeries, we have to rely on the vigilance of the banks, financial institutions and the ordinary public to bring apparent cases of forgery to the notice of the authorities. We have been quite successful over the last few years in detecting forgeries and in preventing widespread circulation of forged notes.

What the Deputy was saying about the design of our coinage is a matter that is clearly open to debate and I am quite certain that if we were to have a redesign of the whole range of coinage there would be disagreement about whatever solution might be adopted because it is a matter of individual judgment as to whether or not people like the look of the new coin. I remember on one occasion, when new stamps were introduced bringing in the Celtic animal motifs, there was curious correspondence in the newspapers about the apparent obscenity of putting on stamps animals that seemed to be eating their own tails. We know where the motifs came from.

The Minister is reducing it to a laugh.

I am not.

The point I am making is that I am not convinced that there is a need for a redesign of the coinage.

Our coinage is hybrid.

In the event that we reexamine the coinage I would consider that there is an argument for the reduction of the weight of our coins. We should consider the use of lighter alloys for making coins because our coinage is, as the Deputy would agree, rather heavy when compared to the coinage used in most of the other European countries.

I do not think that it is. I prefer it to be reasonably heavy.