asked the Minister for Finance the manner in which the balance of payments situation has been affected by large scale transfers, if any, of dairy products to storage in England and other places.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Balance of Payments.
15.
The general principle governing transactions of the type referred to by the Deputy is that, while they are recorded in the external trade statistics at the time of transfer to storage abroad, they are not credited in the annual balance of payments statement until a sale has been effected. Where goods are transferred to storage abroad in one year and not sold until a subsequent year, there is an offsetting debit entry in the balance of payments statement in the first year and a credit adjustment in the subsequent year. In addition, of course, any payments abroad in respect of transport and storage would be debited in the balance of payments in the year in which they arise.
Is it not possible one would have an English company with an Irish subsidiary, or vice versa, that sales would have been made and that the figures would be false?
The Deputy is referring to Bord Bainne transferring a certain amount of dairy produce to England last October. I have no information on this. I only know what is in the media because Bord Bainne are now a private company. When the Central Statistics Office are preparing the 1975 balance of payments figures they will make such inquiries as they consider necessary to determine how the transactions should be dealt with. A preliminary balance of payments statement for 1975 should be available in April next and the detailed statement should be published around the end of the year.
What I am speaking about is whether the statistics for exports for that period are false. I appreciate Bord Bainne are not the Minister's responsibility and that they are entitled to take any commercial advantage that they can get out of the EEC benefits, but are the statistics upset by this transaction?
It is a matter for the Central Statistics Office.