Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 25 Jul 1996

Vol. 468 No. 4

Written Answers. - National Debt.

Dermot Ahern

Question:

92 Mr. D. Ahern asked the Minister for Finance if he will give a breakdown of the component parts of the national debt, including the specific amounts owed by the Government Departments, State and semi-State bodies and all public authorities; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15427/96]

Minister for Finance (Mr. Quinn)

The National Debt, which stood at £30,209 million at 31 December 1995, reflects the debt of the Exchequer only — i.e. borrowing undertaken to fund the activities of Government Departments.

For EU reporting purposes, General Government Debt is the standard measure of a country's indebtedness. This measure is a more broadly defined concept which includes central Government debt, the Exchequer debt of noncommercial semi-State bodies and the debt of local authorities, including health boards, vocational education committees, etc. It is also measured on a gross basis — e.g. cash on hands is not netted off. The following table shows the breakdown of General Government Debt as at 31 December, 1995:

	£m
Central Government	32,114
Non-commercial semi-State bodies	15
Local authorities	581
General Government Debt	32,710

The total debt of commercial semi-State companies, which is not included in either of the above measures, stood at £5,801 million at 31 December 1995. It should be noted that there is some overlap between the debt of the general Government sector and the debt of commercial semi-State bodies. For example, borrowings of the Housing Finance Agency, which are counted as part of the commercial semi-State debt, become part of the general government debt when drawn by the local authorities.