Sir, - While adult literacy statistics show the Irish education system has failed many of its pupils, there are still many citizens for whom the use of multisyllabic words, by Government Ministers who are apparently incapable of answering a straight question, fails to either intimidate, inspire confidence or deter criticism.
In this respect the Minister of State Joe Jacob might do well to observe that copious reference to the "expertise" of "international consultants" does not constitute a satisfactory response to straightforward questions about what the Irish people might do in the event of an accident or explosion at Sellafield or Thorp.
The issue here is not whether there is a risk of this happening before Mr Jacob's Department has had a chance to issue us all with our fact sheets indicating just how we will come by our supply of iodine tablets.
Rather, the point is that the Irish people might be forgiven for assessing how many insults to our intelligence are tolerable before we are overcome with the urge to put our heads between our knees and cover our ears to block out the sounds of such evasive and bumbling contempt for the electorate as emanated from the radio during Wednesday's Marian Finucane Show. - Yours, etc.,
Caitriona Mullan, Raymond Street, Dublin 8.