asked the Minister for Finance if he will give details of (a) the reduction in expenditure under the public capital programme from 1982 to 1983; and (b) the impact of this reduction on employment.
Written Answers. - Public Capital Programme.
262.
Public capital expenditure in 1982 was £1,898 million and the provisional outturn for 1983 is £1,748 million, giving a reduction of £150 million. Expenditure fell by about £100 million in the sectoral economic investment area, mainly in the industry and agriculture categories; by about £70 million in the productive infrastructure area, concentrated on the energy, transport and telecommunications categories; and rose by about £20 million in the social infrastructure area.
The direct and indirect impact of the PCP on employment is determined by its composition as well as its level. The fall in public capital expenditure was composed of reductions in some sectors offset partly by increases in others. Public capital expenditure on labour-intensive activity, such as housing, actually increased in real terms. In some of the sectors in which reductions occurred they reflected the impact of the recession on private sector willingness to invest e.g. grants to industry. Reductions also reflected the peaking or completion of expenditure e.g. the completion of the Cork-Dublin pipeline. Given the composition of the change and the interaction between public sector and private sector investment, it would not be possible to quantify satisfactorily the overall impact on employment of the net reduction in public capital programme expenditure in 1983 compared with 1982.