asked the Minister for Finance whether the British Government securities held by the Agricultural Credit Corporation were included in the grand total of £56,751,447 invested by Government Departments and agencies in British Government securities set out by the Minister in his reply to a question on the 15th November, 1951; and, if not, whether he will now indicate what other statutory and State-sponsored corporations hold British Government securities.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Investments by Agricultural Credit Corporation.
The answer to the first part of the Deputy's question is in the negative.
I have not the information sought in the second part of the question, and I do not propose to seek it, as some of the companies that would be regarded as statutory or State-sponsored corporations are engaged in competitive business and any holdings of British securities which they possess would not in any case be very considerable in relation to the variety and scope of their operations at home and abroad.
Would I be correct in suggesting that the amount is somewhere between £2,000,000 and £3,000,000?
The Deputy can only assume from what I said that as far as I can guess at the matter they are not considerable in relation to their operations at home and abroad.
Surely there is no reason why the Minister should not tell us what the amount is.
I have not got the information. If the amount is, as the Deputy guesses, £2,000,000, what is that in relation to £400,000,000 or £300,000,000 that we have invested abroad? It is a bagatelle.
It is no bagatelle.
The Deputy is simply upsetting himself about certain details of finance without knowing or understanding the fundamentals.