asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce whether for the purpose of estimating the sum of our invisible exports and imports any specific heads of receipts and payments have been defined, and, if so, what are they for each category.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Estimating Visible and Invisible Exports and Imports.
A number of specific heads of receipts and payments in connection with our "invisible" imports and exports have been defined. The Deputy will find the separate items set out in detail in the answer to Deputy Mulcahy's questions on the external trade balance, given on Thursday, 30th April, 1936.
For how many years are the calculations or estimates made out?
The figures for, I think, a number of years have been given in answer to Deputy Mulcahy's question, but I could not definitely tell the Deputy for how many years.
The Minister will remember that on a previous occasion the Minister for Finance stated that the statistical department had not arrived at a satisfactory basis for making these calculations.
For certain items.
For how many years is the standard of calculation available, or has the standard of calculation been arrived at yet?
It has been arrived at for certain items but not for other items.
The Minister when considering this question would require certain heads of receipts and payments to be placed before him. It may have been impossible to make calculations for all these heads, but the purpose of my question is to elicit the number of heads which the experts of the Minister's Department think necessary to have before them before an accurate calculation can be arrived at.
The matter was fully replied to in the answer given to Deputy Mulcahy.
Well, if the information therein is not adequate I will put down another question.