asked the Minister for Finance the amount of loans for regional development granted by the EIB in the period 1980-84; the actual number of loans; the nature of the projects involved; and the location of the projects.
451.
Written Answers. - European Loans.
449.
asked the Minister for Finance the amount of the loans granted under the New Community Instrument since 1979; the number of loans allocated to improving industrial structures, developing energy resources and helping small and medium-sized firms; and the location of the projects involved.
452.
asked the Minister for Finance if he will state, under the EMS system of granting interest rebates to the less prosperous countries of the EEC (1) the total amount of such loans granted to Ireland and (2) the projects to which they were allocated and the location of such projects.
For the information of the Dáil, I propose to take Questions Nos. 449, 451 and 452 together. The amounts and numbers of loans made available for projects in Ireland by the European Investment Bank (EIB) either from its own resources or from the resources of the New Community Instrument for Borrowing and Lending (NCI) in the period 1979-83 are summarised in Table 1.
Table 1
European Community Loans to Ireland 1979-83
Amounts IR£ million (No. of loans)
|
Subsidised under EMS arrangements |
Not subsidised |
TOTAL |
|||
|
EIB |
NCI |
EIB |
NCI |
||
|
1979 |
147.6(13) |
58.0(4) |
20.5(4) |
— |
226.1(21) |
|
1980 |
174.2(18) |
28.1(3) |
50.5(6) |
— |
252.8(27) |
|
1981 |
188.6(15) |
11.9(2) |
36.5(4) |
— |
237.0(21) |
|
1982 |
170.9(10) |
57.3(4) |
53.5(5) |
— |
281.7(19) |
|
1983 |
122.5 (7) |
49.7(5) |
46.0(5) |
— |
218.2(17) |
|
Total |
803.8 (63) |
205.0 (18) |
207.0 (24) |
— |
1,215.8 (105) |
Over 80 per cent of the loans were subsidised under the special five-year support arrangements for the less prosperous member states participating in the European Monetary System. These loans included all the NCI loans made available in Ireland in the period. Ireland obtained its full entitlement to the subsidised loans which, as provided by the relevant Council Regulation (No. 1736-79 of 3 August 1979, OJ No. 200-1), were concentrated on infrastructural investment. A sectoral breakdown of these loans is provided in Table 2, while a similar breakdown for the unsubsidised EIB loans is provided in Table 3. All loans were provided for regional development purposes.
It will be seen from Table 2 that some 60 per cent of the EMS loans were concentrated on the energy and telecommunications investment programmes, which by their nature involved investment throughout the country. Some £115 million of the loans in the energy sector were, however, for the ESB's Moneypoint project. Similarly the investments in sanitary services and roads as well as factory construction and training centres also involved projects throughout the country. There are for instance almost 170 individual sanitary services schemes and over 90 individual road schemes either already partly financed or being partly financed by EIB and NCI loans. The loans for forestry relate to the State's afforestation programme while the railways heading refers to CIE's DART project.
It will also be apparent from Table 2 that NCI loans were obtained for energy, telecommunications, sanitary services and roads and to a very limited extent for factory construction. NCI loans were not availed of, however, for investment by small and medium sized firms as the EIB provided loans from its own resources through global loan schemes operated mainly by the ICC and ACC for such firms in the manufacturing and agri-business sectors and for the tourism sector. Over 1,500 firms in all parts of the country benefited under these schemes. The amounts involved are set out in Table 3.
Table 2
EMS Loans 1979-1983: Sectoral Breakdown
IR£ million (No. of Loans)
|
1979 |
1980 |
1981 |
1982 |
1983 |
Total |
% |
||
|
Energy |
EIB |
49.8 (4) |
29.0 (3) |
90.0 (5) |
46.0 (2) |
14.0 (1) |
228.8 (15) |
|
|
NCI |
16.5 (1) |
9.7 (2) |
6.3 (1) |
26.0 (2) |
33.5 (2) |
92.0 (8) |
||
|
Total |
66.3 |
38.7 |
96.3 |
72.0 |
47.5 |
320.8 (23) |
32 |
|
|
Telecoms |
EIB |
18.0 (1) |
22.2 (2) |
32.8 (2) |
75.0 (1) |
60.0 (1) |
208.0 (7) |
|
|
NCI |
12.0 (1) |
18.4 (1) |
5.6 (1) |
26.0 (1) |
13.6 (1) |
75.6 (5) |
||
|
Total |
30.0 |
40.6 |
38.4 |
101.0 |
73.6 |
283.6 (12) |
28 |
|
|
Sanitary |
EIB |
46.8 (5) |
35.7 (5) |
19.8 (4) |
5.0 (1) |
14.0 (2) |
121.3 (17) |
|
|
Services |
NCI |
16.5 (1) |
— |
— |
5.3 (1) |
— |
21.8 (2) |
|
|
Total |
63.3 |
35.7 |
19.8 |
10.3 |
14.0 |
143.1 (19) |
14 |
|
|
Factories |
EIB |
— |
61.6 (4) |
— |
19.5 (2) |
— |
81.1 (6) |
|
|
NCI |
— |
— |
— |
— |
2.6 (2) |
2.6 (2) |
||
|
Total |
— |
61.6 |
— |
19.5 |
2.6 |
83.7 (8) |
8 |
|
|
Roads |
EIB |
11.0 (1) |
— |
— |
17.0 (2) |
34.5 (3) |
62.5 (6) |
|
|
NCI |
13.0 (1) |
— |
— |
— |
— |
13.0 (1) |
||
|
Total |
24.0 |
— |
— |
17.0 |
34.5 |
75.5 (7) |
7 |
|
|
Training Centres |
EIB |
— |
— |
20.0 (1) |
5.4 (1) |
— |
25.4 (2) |
3 |
|
Forestry |
EIB |
15.0 (1) |
7.0 (1) |
— |
— |
— |
22.0 (2) |
2 |
|
Land Drainage |
EIB |
7.0 (1) |
5.5 (1) |
3.0 (1) |
3.0 (1) |
— |
18.5 (4) |
2 |
|
Railways |
EIB |
— |
— |
18.0 (1) |
— |
— |
18.0 (1) |
2 |
|
Shipping |
EIB |
— |
7.5 (1) |
5.0 (1) |
— |
— |
12.5 (2) |
1 |
|
Harbours |
EIB |
— |
5.7 (1) |
— |
— |
— |
5.7 (1) |
1 |
|
All Sectors |
Eib |
147.6 (13) |
174.2 (18) |
188.6 (15) |
170.9 (10) |
122.5 (7) |
803.8 (63) |
80 |
|
NCI |
58.0 (4) |
28.1 (3) |
11.9 (2) |
57.3 (4) |
49.7 (5) |
205.0 (18) |
20 |
|
|
Total |
205.6 (17) |
202.3 (21) |
200.5 (17) |
228.2 (14) |
172.2 (12) |
1,008.8 (81) |
100 |
Table 3
EIB Loans (Unsubsidised) 1979-83
Amount IR£million (No. of loans)
|
Sectoral Breakdown |
Total |
|||||
|
1979 |
1980 |
1981 |
1982 |
1983 |
||
|
EIB Global loan schemes |
17.5 (3) |
50.5 (6) |
36.5 (4) |
8.5 (3) |
10.0 (3) |
123.0 (19) |
|
Railways |
— |
— |
— |
— |
36.0 (2) |
36.0 (2) |
|
Energy |
3.0 (1) |
— |
— |
— |
— |
3.0 (1) |
|
Private Investors |
— |
— |
— |
45.0 (2) |
— |
45.0 (2) |
|
207.0 (24) |
The railways category in this table again relates to CIE's DART project. The borrowing programme from the EIB and NCI for 1984 is still in progress and it is not possible at this stage to provide details of loans still under negotiation. To date, however, some £57 million had been provided by the EIB for investment in forestry, roads, the extension of NIHE Limerick and for the ICC global loan scheme while a further £11 million was provided by the NCI for roads schemes.