asked the Minister for Finance if he will indicate how much (1) the August devaluation of the Irish pound and (2) the recent increase in interest rates will add, in a full year, to the cost of financing Ireland's national debt; the estimated average cost to each tax paying unit of servicing the national debt in 1986; and the corresponding figure for 1982.
Written Answers. - National Debt.
17.
It is estimated that the downward adjustment of the Irish pound in the EMS in August will increase the cost of foreign interest payments in a full year by about £45 million.
The effect in a full year of the recent increases in domestic interest rates will depend on the duration of the increases, and on the amounts and types of borrowing that may be undertaken at the higher rates. As the Deputy will be aware, interest rates in the gilt market have in fact been declining in recent weeks from the high levels reached in mid-October.
It is assumed that the Deputy is referring, in the final part of the question, to income tax paying units. The estimated cost of servicing the national debt in 1986 when expressed as an amount per income tax paying unit is approximately £2,310; the coresponding figure for 1982 is £1,440. This represents a much lower rate of increase than was incurred over the previous four year period 1978 to 1982.