Vol. 482 No. 6
118 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Public Enterprise if the Government has established norms of gearing ratios between debt and equity to be established in companies where it acts as the shareholder; the individual current levels of borrowings for each of the semi-State companies under the aegis of its Department; the relevant borrowing ceiling in this regard; and her views on increasing or decreasing borrowings in each company. [18565/97]
In general, the Department has not got standard norms of gearing ratios between debt and equity for the commercial State companies, under its aegis, that have equity bases; in the case of those State companies that have no equity bases, obviously the normal commercial criterion of gearing ratio does not apply. In those State companies, where it is appropriate to apply gearing ratios, the norms have to have regard to the particular circumstances of each company and the sectors in which they operate. The Government's approach, as set out in the Action Programme for the Millennium is practical and focused at securing and maintaining the competitiveness of the State companies.
As regards the question of increasing or decreasing borrowings in the State companies, the individual borrowings of each State company vary according to the particular commercial circumstances and sector in which the company is involved. Business confidence and expectations of future profits are crucial factors in the determination of how much debt capital investors are prepared to lend. The level of borrowings which a company can prudently sustain depends ultimately on the nature of the State company wishing to borrow the funds, and the particular industry in which it is engaged.
As regards specific levels of borrowing and borrowing ceilings of the individual State companies, I refer the Deputy to the following schedule:
Department of Public Enterprise
|
No. |
Commercial State Body |
Level of Borrowing(¹) |
Borrowing Ceilings |
|
1. |
Aer Lingus Group plc |
£38.7m |
No ceiling at present |
|
2. |
Aer Rianta |
£32.6m |
No ceiling at present |
|
3. |
Bord Gáis Éireann (BGE) |
£139m |
£350m — for capital purposes; |
|
£50m — for current purposes |
|||
|
4. |
Bord na Móna (BnM) |
£117.1m |
£180m |
|
5. |
Córas Iompair Éireann (CIE) |
£162.7m |
£250m(²) |
|
6. |
Electricity Supply Board (ESB) |
£825m |
£1,600m |
|
7. |
Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) |
Nil |
£100m |
|
8. |
Irish National Petroleum Corporation (INPC) |
£41.7m |
US $95m and £10m |
|
9. |
An Post |
Borrowings — Nil; Overdraft facility for cashflow purposes — £10m |
£58.5m |
|
10. |
Telecom Éireann |
£524m |
£1,400m |
