asked the Minister for Finance the total foreign loans outstanding at present and the total annual interest being paid.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Foreign Loans.
6.
The total foreign debt outstanding on 31st October, 1975, was £417 million. The total interest payable on foreign debt in 1975 is estimated at £33 million.
Would the Minister have available the amount necessary to pay off the debt in question as well as the interest, that is, the capital repayment?
It is not possible to say what sum may be required at the time of repayment because the amount then required would be decided by the relative value of the currencies in which the loans were taken up originally and the value of the £ Irish at the time of repayment.
Is any funding being done for the purpose of capital repayment, or is it all being left with merely the interest being paid?
The fund is built up so that when the time for repayment arises the State will be in a position to refund the debt as well as the interest, the interest being payable all the time in varying amounts and at different times.
Would the Minister indicate the fund into which the money is paid for the maintenance of the fund for capital repayment of these foreign loans?
The normal procedures are used.
Could the Minister indicate under which heading these payments are made?
I do not quite understand the Deputy. The ordinary provisions relating to the repayment of the State's debt apply to foreign borrowings as well as domestic borrowings.
Perhaps I could clarify the position for the Minister if I indicate my surprise at his answer having regard to the fact that the fund which was being used for this purpose, under the heading of departmental funds, has been almost, if not totally, depleted by the Minister.
That is not so.
That is what the Minister's figures show.
Are we borrowing money to pay the interest?
No.
Deputy Brugha.
Where are we getting it?
I have called Deputy Brugha.
How much of the £417 million mentioned by the Minister was raised this year?
That is a separate question. I have not got the precise figures for this year yet. I will be glad to answer that question on another occasion if the Deputy wants me to.
Is the total £417 million in currencies which are harder than our £?
No.
Some of it is in sterling?
It varies, yes.
How much?
May I ask my question now? Would the Minister indicate the source of the funds which are being used to build up the fund which he claims is being used to repay the capital and the interest on the moneys in question?
We are opening a new discussion here. If the House wants me to give a lecture——
I do not want a lecture.
——on the manner in which the State indebtedness is met, I, of course, can do so but I have already explained that the money required to service debt is a first charge on the ordinary revenue of the State.