asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce the subsidies which Irish Steel Holdings or any other steel manufacturing firm in Ireland have received from the Government in the form of grants, tax reliefs, adaptation facilities or guaranteed orders in recent years; whether the Government have received any representations from Irish Steel Holdings regarding the company's position in the EEC; and whether he will make a statement on the position of the Irish steel industry in the EEC in view of the obligations regarding pricing policy and competition which the industry will be subject to in the European Coal and Steel Community.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Steel Industry.
46.
I am informed that the only financial assistance which Irish Steel Holdings Ltd., the only steel manufacturing firm in the country, received from Government sources within the past five years was in respect of marketing development grants (£24,168), training grants (£1,686), and grants from the National Institute of Fuel Economy (£816).
No subsidies were given to the company by the Government in the form of guaranteed orders.
There have been many consultations between officers of my Department and the company on matters arising from its trading position under Community rules and regulations, and representatives of the company and of my Department have had a number of discussions with officials of the Coal and Steel Community.
As the Deputy may be aware, concessions during the five years' transitional period have been secured for the Irish steel industry. I am aware that the board of the company are planning their operations and the further development of the industry on the basis that the enterprise can be successfully conducted within the Community.