Vol. 213 No. 5
I move:
That it is expedient to authorise such payments out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas as are necessary to give effect to any Act of the present session to increase to thirty million pounds the aggregate amount of grants which the Minister for Industry and Commerce may make to An Foras Tionscal and to make further provision in relation to grants by An Foras Tionscal for the enlargement or adaptation of industrial undertakings.
Can the Minister indicate at this stage what the annual expense in respect of the levy is estimated to be? In other words, what will it cost to offset the effect of the levy? Has any figure been arrived at?
No figure has been arrived at but on the basis that £15 million is the value of our exports to Britain, then 50 per cent of the surcharge would be 15 per cent on that £15 million. That would be the maximum. I should imagine it would be much less. Taking it all in all, I think it will hardly exceed £2 million.
In the year?
In the full year. In the half-year during which the levy will operate, we hope it will be much less.
I saw a figure somewhere of £7 million as the amount of the 15 per cent. That may be an outside figure——
The full impact of the levy would be roughly £7 million. Taking half of that, it would be something less again as indicating the amount likely to fall for payment to exporters.
