asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he proposes to seek loans from the EEC for the development of this country's natural resources.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Natural Resources Development.
21.
I take it that the Deputy's question is related to mineral resources. While I have no immediate intention of seeking such loans it would be the intention of the Government to promote the use of such funds as are available from Community sources to the extent that they best meet our requirements.
Is the Minister aware that the EEC approved loans totalling £74 million, and grants totalling £2 million, for Britain's coal and steel industries aimed at the modernisation of those industries and the creation of job opportunities? The loans are also to alleviate the effects of closures in the steel industry and the carrying out of mining research.
While I cannot verify that the Deputy's figures are exactly correct, I am certainly aware that funds of that scale have been made available to the United Kingdom.
In the light of the Press cutting which I have here, would the Minister not consider expanding the activities of Bord na Móna and open up the collieries at Ballingarry and Castlecomer when there are funds available for such projects?
Bord na Móna comes under the responsibility of the Minister for Transport and Power. As regards the collieries, I understand that there are strict criteria of commercial viability in regard to moneys made available from Community sources. While we have been continuously looking at the Irish collieries, I have not had proposals for significant investment of an economically rewarding kind. If such proposals are brought forward, I would certainly encourage the seeking of funds both from available sources inside the country and from Community sources.
This article mentioned that funds were also available for training research. Would the Minister seek financial help under this heading to train people for the mining industry?
That is a separate question.
AnCO are responsible for training and they, in turn, are responsible to the Minister for Labour. Where there is a viable proposal, it will receive both attention and encouragement.
In view of the rapidly rising costs of domestic fuel, particularly in the last few years, would the Minister not agree that this subject has taken on a new urgency? Surely the Minister is not satisfied with telling us that he has not yet got round to thinking about the viability of these collieries when their contribution to the balance of payments would be significant.
If the Deputy looks at the record, he will see that he has put a gloss on my words which contains a meaning I certainly did not express. The crucial point is viability. I agree with the observation that the dramatic rise in the cost of oil has altered the economics of coal and alternative fuels in this country. The matter is, and since the rise in the price of oil two years ago has been, continuously reviewed.
While a colliery might not have been viable two or three years ago when that type of coal cost £10 a ton, would the Minister not agree now that coal costs three times that amount, that there should be a complete re-examination of——
Matters dealing with collieries are separate questions. Question No. 22.
I have already agreed with the Deputy in reply to a previous supplementary.
I have called the next question.
I have indicated that this matter has been continuously reexamined over the past two years.