asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he will state the number of applications made under the Trade Loans (Guarantee) Acts in each year since the Act came into operation, the number of such applications referred to the Advisory Committee established under this Act, the number of applications recommended to be taken up by the Advisory Committee, and the number of cases in which the Government Guarantee was given, and further, if he will state the proportion of the applications in each year which were rejected on the grounds that facilities for the securing of working capital and not the purchase of fixed assets, were sought.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Applications for Trade Loans.
The total number of applications received under Section 1 of the Principal Act is 732. The segregation of these cases year by year would involve considerable clerical work, and I trust the figures I have given will be sufficient for the Deputy's purpose. Of this number 124 applications have been referred to the Advisory Committee. In 42 cases the Advisory Committee advised the Minister to give his guarantee, and in 18 of these cases the Minister's guarantee has been given. Of the remaining 24 applications, 4 are under consideration, 11 have been withdrawn by the applicants, 4 have not been proceeded with on account of lack of working capital, and 5 have, on further examination, been rejected.
The corresponding figures under Section 2 of the Principal Act are 36, 16, 3 and 0 respectively.
It is not possible to give a precise reply to the last part of the question, but a substantial number of intended applications which involved the guarantee of a loan to be used as working capital was not proceeded with when the applicants appreciated that the Acts prohibited the giving of guarantees in such circumstances. Of the 124 cases referred to the Advisory Committee 19 were reported on unfavourably owing to the lack of adequate arrangements for the provision of working capital.