asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will now announce the precise amount of Ireland's voluntary contribution to the Second Window of the UNCTAD Common Fund this week as Belgium, Norway, Sweden, Austria, and so on, have done.
Written Answers. - UNCTAD Common Fund.
104.
The Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Deputy David Andrews, announced in his address on 10 May 1979 to the Fifth Session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD V) in Manila that Ireland would make a voluntary contribution to the Second Window of the Common Fund in addition to that portion of our basic contribution which we would propose to allocate to the Second Window. As I indicated in my reply to the Deputy on 9 May 1979, the Government recognise the importance of the Second Window, which enlarges the scope and function of the fund by extending its operation to developing commodity producers who would be unlikely to benefit significantly from the financing of actual buffer stocks.
The precise amount of our voluntary contribution will be announced when the work on the modalities for the establishment of the fund has been concluded as presently expected towards the end of the year.