asked the Minister for Finance if he will give a breakdown of the item "other borrowings" amounting to £279,028,253 which appears on page 1160 of Iris Oifigiúil for 3rd November, 1975.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Borrowing Breakdown.
49.
The figure of £279,028,253 represents the gross receipts of other borrowings into the Exchequer in the period from 1st January, 1975 to 31st October, 1975. The figure comprises £275,480,000 advanced by the Central Bank under temporary overdraft facilities and £3,548,253 borrowed from various public and private sources. As I have explained in previous replies, repayments in the period amounting to £301,517,810 should be set off against the borrowing figure, making a net repayment of £22,489,557 of previous other borrowings in the period referred to.
The Minister has borrowed and spent with a rapidity which only his own undoubted mathematical mind could comprehend. Could I ask whether he is happy with the position as indicated by him and the figures which he rolled off so rapidly?
I am not quite sure what the Deputy means by being happy.
Does the Minister think it reflects a healthy economic state for this country?
In so far as the scale of borrowings generally at present is by any normal standard excessively high and accounted for and justified only by the exceptional economic situation, one cannot be happy with the very high level of borrowing and in so far as those borrowings form part of that, I suppose that general economic judgment can be applied to these as well.
Is it the Government's intention to try to bring down the amount of borrowings in the coming financial year?
The Government's intentions with regard to the budget are not matters which I am in a position to disclose, nor indeed would the Minister, if he were here.
Would the Minister consider it desirable to reduce the rate of borrowing in future?
I think the Minister, were he here, would say that he would not consider it desirable at present to take action which would be deflationary in character but that he would be very concerned to keep the borrowing under control and to bring it down as rapidly as is possible, consonant with not operating a deflationary policy.
Would the Minister indicate what proportion of the £279 million he mentioned is being devoted to social welfare benefits of one kind or another?
That is a separate question.
No, it is not.
This is an unanswerable question in the sense that this is part of total borrowings to go into the general Exchequer fund so that the applicability of any given borrowings to any particular purpose, such as investment or budget deficit, is of its nature unknowable, and as regards what proportion of the budget deficit is accounted for by any particular expenditure, that also is unknowable, unless one knew which was the last expenditure decision taken. Even if the Deputy's question were not a separate one, I am afraid it would be unanswerable.
Is it not true that a great deal of borrowed money is being used for the payment of social welfare benefits by the Department? If that is the case, how much?
The position is that a great deal of current expenditure is this year being financed by borrowing rather than by taxation and other current revenue sources. Current expenditure includes social welfare expenditure, and for the reasons I have given, the Deputy's question is unanswerable in a more precise form.
The remaining questions will appear on the Order Paper for the next sitting day of the Dáil.