asked the Minister for Agriculture if he will state in respect of the Irish Sugar Company (1) the date of establishment of the company and the initial equity capital subscribed; (2) the equity capital, if any, provided by the Exchequer in each of the years 1982, 1983, 1984 and the total amount of equity capital at the end of each of the years 1982, 1983, 1984; (3) the total amount of the loans provided by the Exchequer to the company in each of the years 1982, 1983 and 1984, the total amount of loan interest paid by the company to the Exchequer in each of these years and the total amount of the loans outstanding to the Exchequer at the end of 1982, 1983 and 1984; (4) the total amount of all loans raised by the company from all sources, excluding the Exchequer, in each of the years 1982, 1983 and 1984, the amount of such loans guaranteed by the Exchequer, and the total amount of interest paid on all non-Exchequer loans in each of these years; (5) the amount of any grant, subsidy or payment for services, specifying the amount and nature of each, made by the Exchequer in each of the years 1982, 1983 and 1984, and (6) the amount of (a) gross profits and (b) any dividends or other payments made by the company to the Exchequer in each of the years 1982, 1983, 1984.
Written Answers. - Semi-State Body.
The following is the information requested:
(1) The company was established on 21 September 1933, and the initial equity subscribed by the Exchequer was £0.5 million.
(2) The equity capital provided by the Exchequer in each of the years 1982 to 1984 was: 1982, £30 million; 1983, £20 million; 1984, Nil; and the total amount of equity capital at the end of each of the three years was: 1982, £37 million; 1983, £57 million; 1984, £57 million.
(3) No loans were provided by the Exchequer in the three years in question, no loan interest was paid by the company to the Exchequer, and no Exchequer loans to the company were outstanding at the end of each of the three years.
(4) The raising of loans from non-Exchequer sources, and the interest thereon, are primarily matters for the company itself; this notwithstanding no Exchequer guarantees were given in respect of loans raised in the three years in question.
(5) The following grants were made by the Exchequer in each of the years in question: 1982, £79,449.74; 1983, Nil; 1984, £90,922.44. The grants were all made from the Employment Guarantee Fund.
(6) (a) Disclosure of the company's gross profits (i.e. sales less inputs, adjusted for stocks, before overheads, extraordinary items, interest and taxation) would give its competitors a commercial advantage over it; relevant published data on profits and losses for the three years in question are in the company's reports and accounts for the accounting years 1981-82, 1982-83 and 1983-84, copies of which were laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. (b) No dividends or other payments were made by the company to the Exchequer in the three years in question.