asked the Minister for Finance whether having regard to his statement in the Dáil on Friday, 10th November, that the prospective loan will be about £6,000,000, he will submit a concise statement in the form of a White Paper or otherwise showing:—(1) the total amount of the present floating debt on Bills and Ways and Means advances; (2) the amount by which this floating debt has increased since 31st March, 1939, and how such increase is accounted for; (3) the extent of present commitments for defence equipment, and the payments which will fall to be made on foot of such equipment up to 31st March, 1940; (4) the variations which the present emergency has involved in the statement submitted in May last as regards capital issues and abnormal expenditure for which it was proposed to borrow; and (5) a revised Budget incorporating the new Estimates of income and expenditure to the end of the present financial year.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Financial Commitments.
(1) The total debt outstanding on Exchequer Bills and Ways and Means advances is £4,450,000. (2) The increase in such debt since 31st March last is £1,300,000, of which Bills account for £800,000 and Ways and Means advances for £500,000. It is not possible to allocate such increase to any particular item or items since factors such as variation in the amount of the Exchequer balance, repayments of Exchequer advances and transactions in regard to Savings Certificates have also to be taken into account. (3) Our commitments for defence equipment up to the present amount to £4,750,000, including £260,000 for A.R.P., but excluding charges that will fall on the Public Works Vote. Owing to uncertainty as to delivery dates, it is impossible to state with any degree of accuracy what payments are likely to be made in respect of the items above mentioned up to 31st March, 1940, but the payments to date total approximately £500,000. (4) It is not anticipated that the emergency will involve any considerable variation in the provision made in the current year's Estimates for capital or abnormal expenditure, apart from defence expenditure, the position in regard to which I have already explained. (5) I would refer the Deputy to my Budget statement on 8th instant, and in particular to the portion of it dealing with the extent to which the recent increases in taxation coupled with economies in expenditure will be insufficent to offset the decline in revenue arising out of the emergency. Recourse to borrowing to meet that deficiency, in addition to the capital and abnormal expenditure referred to above, will, accordingly, be necessary in the current financial year.
I must thank the Minister for his reply, but I would like to point out that my question had more special application to this: by what amount the estimated normal revenue and the estimated normal expenditure had been altered? I do not know whether that would be included in the Minister's reply.
I gave the estimated decrease in revenue in my Budget statement, and there were many references to it here during the course of the discussion on that statement. It was estimated that the decrease would be about £1,650,000.
That is the revenue?
That is the decrease in revenue. The expenditure is much more difficult to determine.
Even the normal expenditure?
The decrease in normal expenditure—is that it?
The alteration.
It would be next to impossible to give the Deputy anything like a safe figure at this moment.