I have a few questions arising from the Minister's omnibus reply. In regard to the 20p coin which the Minister says is forthcoming before the end of this year, what element of competition has the Minister built into the design of this coin? Secondly, will the Minister assure the House, even now, that at the very least the general pattern and dimensions of the British 20p coin will not be reproduced here in a way that is sadly familiar to us? Thirdly, would the Minister agree that the Irish coinage, in the way in which Deputy Brady, suggested, in general is far too heavy by reference to its value, when one considers, to take an example, that the German 5 mark piece is about the same size as an Irish 10p but that it takes 16 tenpences to buy a German 5 mark piece?

Would the Minister agree — to concede a point to Deputy Brady — that the total Irish coinage has degenerated and become barbarised since 1928 and now represents a dog's breakfast to which the new 20p coin will only add a further ingredient? Even though I heard the Minister say that he had examined the proposals for commemorative coins, would the Minister examine the experience of some perfectly respectable country, not banana Republics, but a country such as Austria which regularly goes in for the issue of commemorative coins with a high collectors' pay-off for the State, and say whether the single experience we had in 1966 is perhaps a bad one to go by — there was no great demand for the coin because it was extremely ugly, although copies are now worth about £15? Would the Minister be willing, since this is not a political matter but an aesthetic matter, to see a small deputation of Deputies and Senators who are interested in this question to thrash it out with him quietly in his room?

The first point in relation to the 20p coin is that we have not provided for a competition. I have taken the step of consulting the Arts Council on the design of the coin. It is perfectly appropriate that we should do that and that is one of the reasons why we have an Arts Council.

I can assure Deputy Kelly that the Irish 20p coin will not bear any close resemblance to the UK 20p coin nor do I see any reason why it should. I agree with Deputy Kelly in his feeling that our coinage is too heavy, although I have the impression that that is not the general view of the House. I am not considering a redesign of the coinage at the moment but in the event that we consider a redesign of the coinage I would take the point that we should consider using a lighter alloy to produce lighter coins. I come to the point which Deputy Kelly had made for me. He, with his usual facility of language, claims that our coinage has degenerated and been barbarised since — I have forgotten the date——

Since decimalisation.

It is a matter of taste. I would not agree for a moment that that is the case.

They are too light and too small.