Vol. 571 No. 1
185 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Finance the total amount paid to the Exchequer by the Central Bank in the form of dividends or other payments for 2001, 2002 and 2003; the anticipated amount for 2004; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20748/03]
Over the period 2001-2003 the Exchequer has received funds from the Central Bank under three headings.
The first, and indeed normally by far the largest, is the regular transfer of the Central Bank's surplus income. Under the Central Bank Act 1989, the Central Bank is obliged to pay over to the Exchequer its annual profit less provisions in respect of superannuation, depreciation and a transfer to its reserves not exceeding 20% of its annual profit, usually paid in instalments.
In 2001 this amounted to €451,303,000, in 2002 to €530,639,000 and thus far in 2003 to €583,719,000. No further payments from this source are due this year.
The second heading is accrued public moneys arising from the issue of coin. Section 137 of the Finance Act 2002 allows for the transfer to the Exchequer of income from the issue of coin. This represents the net proceeds earned by the Central Bank on its issuance of coin. The figure transferred to the Exchequer of €360 million in 2002 represented funds which had been accruing to the currency reserve of the Central Bank up to and including 2001, plus income earned in 2002. The 2003 figure to date is €29 million, and the projection for 2003 as a whole is €80 million.
The third heading is proceeds from banknote receipts in the context of the euro changeover. The income arising from the issue of euro notes relates to the fact that the value of old Irish denominated notes redeemed in exchange for new euro notes was projected to fall short of the value of Irish notes outstanding. While the bank needed to be ready to redeem any additional notes which might be presented after the changeover to the euro, it was deemed reasonable to write off a portion of the still unredeemed notes on the basis that it is likely that most of them will never be redeemed having being destroyed, lost, etc. Of course, it was not the advent of the euro in itself that generated this surplus, but the changeover involved a process of taking in outstanding notes and issuing new ones so allowing the unredeemed old issue notes to be accounted for. By its nature this was an exceptional windfall to the Exchequer. It realised €240 million in 2002, but is not repeated in 2003.
As to anticipated receipts for 2004, I would refer the Deputy to the 2003 budget book table current receipts 2002 to 2005 which sets out the projected income to the Exchequer over this period. For 2004 it projects receipts under the Central Bank surplus income heading of €200 million and of a further €80 million arising from the issue of coin. These projections will be reviewed in the context of the 2004 budget.
