In the course of a reply to a question on 9th December last I undertook to let the House know if and when the World Bank approved any loan to this country. I now wish to say that the Bank has sanctioned a loan of $20 million to the Electricity Supply Board. The loan is repayable over a period of 17 years, including a five-year period of grace, and interest is payable at 7¼ per cent per annum. Payment of the interest and repayment of the principal have been guaranteed by me as Minister for Finance under powers given by the Electricity (Supply) Acts.
The loan will be used to meet part of the cost of a major extension to the generating station at Tarbert. It is expected to cover 70 per cent of the total cost.
The proposed project will be the first major section of the ESB's development programme during the present decade. The expansion is necessary to meet the growing demand for electricity arising from the expansion of the economy and in particular industrial development.
This is the second loan which the World Bank have made to the ESB— the first being a loan of $14½ million sanctioned in 1969 to assist in financing the board's pumped storage scheme at Turlough Hill, County Wicklow. The new loan will be drawn over a period of four years up to the end of 1975 by which time the project is expected to be completed.