asked the Minister for Energy the total value of ore concentrate exported from Irish mines last year; and the amount of revenue accruing to the State from royalties on it.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers - Ore Concentrate Exports.
28.
The total value of ore concentrates exported from Irish mines in 1980 amounted to £68,467,000. Royalties and dead rents received from these mines in 1980 amounted to £707,884.
Will the Minister not agree that the money we got in royalties is peanuts compared to the money available in the ore concentrate if it were processed here and sold as a finished product or used in downstream industries here? This is the kind of thing Cecil Rhodes went on with a hundred years ago——
We should not have speeches at Question Time.
The figure I gave for royalties and dead rents was the amount received in 1980 based on a percentage of the companies' profits for 1979 and, therefore, cannot be related to the figure I gave which was sought by the Deputy in respect of the value of exports in 1980. In addition, the Deputy should not overlook the point that when one talks about the value of exports and profits one must mention also the substantial development and production costs involved if one is to have a realistic assessment of the figure on which royalties are based.
Think about the hole in the ground at Tynagh.
The employment in the industry is approximately 1,600 in the four mines and ancillary employment, and the return to the State through PAYE and PRSI payments and the multiplier effects in the areas concerned is considerable. It may not be as big as we would like but the Deputy should not ignore it.
An I right in assuming that the profit and loss accounts which determine the extent of royalties are furnished by the privately owned, publicly quoted companies in some cases and that initially they set the threshold on which the royalties are calculated? If that is the case, will the Minister state if he is satisfied that the profit and loss accounts figures so produced are 100 per cent accurate and that there is no concealment of royalties that would otherwise have been due to the State?
The accounts on which these figures are based are, as is normal in all cases of this kind, prepared by the companies concerned and audited. As to whether they represent the true position, the Deputy might as well ask the same question in regard to company accounts on which tax returns are based. I cannot say specifically that all companies accounts are accurate or inaccurate. However, I invite the Deputy, if he has any information whatsoever to show that these accounts are not accurate, to furnish this information.
A final supplementary.
I am not privy to such information. I simply ask the Minister for Energy to scrutinise these accounts a little more carefully than was the case with the accounts of Nítrigin Éireann Teoranta.
Ceist a 29.
I do not think that Deputy Horgan should embark on that area.
Deputy Horgan is otherwise engaged at the moment.
I should have said Deputy Quinn. Deputy Quinn is tempting Providence.
Ceist a 29.