Up to 31 December 1974 the foreign currency debt is valued at the exchange rates which applied when the debt was drawn down. Thereafter the foreign currency debt is valued at the relevant end-year exchange rates. For comparative purposes figures for 1975 are provided on both bases.
In 1987 further changes were made in the method of calculating the national debt. These changes arose from the elimination of circular transfers resulting from the enacting of the Local Loans Fund (Amendment) Act, 1987, and the incorporation, as a credit in the national debt statement, of liquid assets which were previously shown in the statement of capital assets in the finance accounts. The national debt figures from 1982 onwards are on this amended basis. For comparative purposes figures for 1982 are also provided on the old basis.
In the case of domestic debt funded by foreign investors comprehensive estimates are only available since 1984 onwards. Non-resident holdings of Irish Government securities at end year since 1984 are as follows: 1984, £530 million; 1985, £890 million; 1986, £1,174 million; 1987, £1,800 million; 1988, £2,690 million; 1989, £3,883 million.
The remainder of the information requested by the Deputy is set out in the following tables.
