asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce the number of firms which are in difficulties at the present time due to liquidity problems.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Firm Liquidity Problems.
10.
Firms are not required to notify me or any other official body about their liquidity problems. I have received representations from various sectors of industry about their particular problems and I am aware of the position of a number of individual firms but I have no precise information as to the total numbers even in the industrial sector. The services of various State agencies are available to help in assessing the problems of individual firms and where necessary in securing financial assistance. In this connection, I would refer the Deputy to Paragraph 95 of the White Paper "A National Partnership" with particular reference to the request which the Central Bank has made to commercial banks to respond positively to the short-term liquidity requirements of their business customers.
I would also refer the Deputy to the references to this matter in the Minister for Finance's budget statement last week and in particular to tax relief provided in the budget for companies engaged in manufacturing construction or farming or in the sale of plant, machinery or material to those sectors.
My reason for asking the question was connected with the statement of the Minister for Finance at a discussion he attended in the Irish Management Institute on 30th November, 1974, as quoted in a verbatim report, page 27——
Quotations are not in order at Question Time.
——that the number of firms in difficulty because of liquidity problems was less than 2 per cent. How did the Minister for Finance obtain that information?
I am answering for the Minister for Industry and Commerce. If the Deputy wished to have that information he should have addressed his question to the Minister for Finance. However, I would imagine that the figure quoted by the Deputy is a rounded one and that this is the best information that the Minister for Finance could obtain from the various banking sources.
Would the Minister agree that the one member of the Cabinet who should be aware of the liquidity problems of industry is the Minister for Industry and Commerce?
Manufacturers are the only people experiencing liquidity problems and they represent only about 2 per cent of the population.
Every member of this Government is concerned with the liquidity problems of industry but I do not think that Ministers would have knowledge of individual cases. Indeed, it is very desirable that unless certain firms approach the Government the banks would not release what essentially is confidential information in regard to these firms but the banks, through the Central Bank, might give some indication to the Minister for Finance that, in their estimation, the number of firms experiencing liquidity problems amounted to 2 per cent but the banks would not specify the individual firms concerned nor would they indicate the extent of the problems of individual firms.
The Minister for Finance has stated categorically that the number of firms experiencing liquidity problems is less than 2 per cent of the total number of firms.
The Deputy is making statements rather than asking questions.
How did the Minister for Finance obtain this information when, apparently, it is not available to the Minister whose concern it is?
I have given a reasonable explanation, that is, that the Central Bank could tell from the information they gather from the commercial banks what in their estimation is the number of firms experiencing liquidity problems but for obvious reasons they would not specify the figure nor name the firms concerned.
But they would not give this information to the Minister for Industry and Commerce?
They would.
Question No. 11, please.
How can the Minister take steps to safeguard these firms if he is not aware of which ones are concerned?
The Chair has called the next question on a number of occasions.
Firms experiencing liquidity problems would approach one of the agencies under the control of the Minister for Industry and Commerce such as Fóir Teoranta or the IDA and would seek help in resolving their problems.
It is the Minister's job to find out which firms are in difficulty.
The Government are not concerned with unemployment.