asked the Minister for Finance if he will indicate the percentage decline in British investment in Ireland from the period 1st January, 1972 to the present date; and what action the Government are taking to alleviate this situation.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - British Investment in Ireland.
27.
The information requested by the Deputy is not available.
I may say, however, that I understand from the Central Bank that the total of the official external reserves as at 29th February which will shortly be published will show no significant change on the end-December figure. This suggests that normal capital inflows are being maintained.
Could the Minister state what he means by "normal capital inflows" in this context, in view of the enormous fluctuations in capital inflows from £8 million to £166 million in the last couple of years?
The figures last year were distorted upwards and in the previous year they were distorted downwards by the bank strike but, having regard to the flows in previous years, taking those two years together, one can get a fairly normal pattern. It is in relation to that that I used the word "normal".
In other words, the normal flow, as defined by the Minister as the average of the last three years, is £115 million a year and what he is saying is that in the first two months of this year the capital inflow has been of the order of £10 million a month?
No, no. The Deputy is putting words into my mouth. I did not say what he says I said.
I am asking the Minister if I am spelling out correctly what he is saying?
No, the Deputy is not.
Will the Minister put his own figures on it or has he got figures?
I am not putting figures on it.
Why not?
I have told the Deputy how the word "normal" used in the reply is arrived at, the basis on which that word is used. That is all I have told the Deputy.
The Minister does not know the figures.
May I ask the Minister how much in advance he receives these figures?
I could not tell the Deputy that off-hand.
The Minister says that they are not published yet but that he has had them available.
I do not quite get the point of the question.
The Minister has had the figures before they are published. How long in advance does the Minister get them?
I could not tell the Deputy off-hand.
Is the Minister aware that the scale of the capital inflow since the end of the bank strike has been attributed more than to anything else to an inflow through the non-associated banks running far beyond the limit proposed by the Central Bank and is he telling us that a normal capital inflow is one that ignores the Central Bank advice?
No, I do not think the Deputy is correct. It is not his own assessment; I think what he has said is that he has been told this.
No. I am sorry. I am going on the figures published up to January 18th by the Central Bank, which show that, taking the balance sheet of the non-associated banks up to the end of December, they show an inflow between the different groups of these banks of about £39 million between April and December, a period when there should have been no net capital inflow through these banks, according to the Central Bank advice. Does the Minister regard that as normal and is he happy if it is continuing?
No.
Question No. 28.
"No", to which part of the question? How do we know that it is to both questions?
I am calling Question No. 28.