Vol. 428 No. 6
8 Miss Harney asked the Minister for Enterprise and Employment the amount of State equity which has been put into NET since the passing of the Nítrigin Éireann Teoranta Bill, 1993; and the amount of increased State-guaranteed new borrowing which NET has drawn down in this period.
The Minister for Finance has indicated that £2 million will be subscribed for equity in NET before the end of March, 1993. There has been no increase in NET's State guaranteed borrowings since the passing of the Nítrigin Éireann Teoranta Bill, 1993.
I am surprised at the Minister's reply, given the context of the debate on NET, that only £2 million is now being put in. Is this £2 million simply to shore up a serious debt problem or is it a further investment in the company? Can the Minister give any indication as to when further sums of money will be drawn down in the current year? I would appreciate it if the Minister would outline a schedule in that regard.
The Deputy will recall that on the passing of the Act we discussed how much might be required in 1993 and at that time I estimated that it could be up to £15 million. The figure is now closer to £9 million for 1993. That is about £2 million now, a further £2 million in April and about £5 million towards the end of the year. I stress that the figure depends on what happens in world oil prices, interest rates and fertiliser profits. They are the three determinants of the figures.
Why is the estimate practically halved from £15 million? I hope that something good has occurred along the line.
As a result of sound Government economic policy, interest rates are coming down. That is one of the major determinants.
