Vol. 218 No. 1
asked the Minister for Finance if he will make a statement on his recent visit to the United States in connection with the loan to be obtained there; if there are any conditions attached to obtaining this loan; and, if so, if he will state these conditions.
27.
asked the Minister for Finance the terms of the loan obtained by him in New York.
28.
asked the Minister for Finance what stage the negotiations for a dollar loan have reached; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
29.
asked the Minister for Finance the countries to which application was made for a loan prior to his visit to New York.
30.
asked the Minister for Finance if he has sought a loan from any other country, state or government apart from the loan sought in the United States; and if so, to what countries he applied.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 26, 27, 28, 29 and 30 together.
A New York house and a London house have agreed to act as comanagers of an issue of dollar stock by the Irish Government of the order of $20 million. The issue will be made through the ordinary financial channels as soon as the necessary arrangements are completed. As with any public issue, the terms of the loan will depend on market conditions prevailing at the time the offer is made. There is no question of making application to the Government of the United States or any other Government nor has the World Bank been asked to participate in this issue.
Can the Minister say when he expects an offer to be made and, secondly, will he answer the other pertinent question as to where he sought money before arrangements were made in London and New York?
What was the first part of the supplementary question?
When does the Minister expect an offer to be made?
It will be about the middle of next month, or perhaps some time later in the month. I am not absolutely certain. The loan now being sought is the only one we have negotiated.
The Minister will appreciate that I did not ask about loan negotiations but about where did he seek money before the negotiations and arrangements in New York.
Nowhere else.
If the truth were known, the Minister hawked the credit of this country throughout the length and breadth of Europe and the world.
May I say categorically that the loan now being negotiated is the only one sought by me, or by the Government, or by any authority in this country on behalf of the Government.
That is what the Minister did.
Sabotage.
This Dáil was told some months ago that inquiries were being made in Zurich and elsewhere.
Who told the Deputy that? The only one who said that was Deputy Dillon.
The Minister may be splitting hairs between "seeking" and "inquiring".
I want to state categorically that I did not, nor did any member of the Government, make inquiries in Zurich or elsewhere. The only inquiries made were the inquiries that have led to these particular negotiations.
Would the Minister state if it is proposed to announce the terms of the American loan, and the interest that will be payable, prior to the floating of a national loan in this country?
No.
Why did they not ask Paul Singer?
