asked the Minister for Industry and Energy if he will state in relation to Nitrigín Éireann Teoranta: (a) the total repayable advances made to 31 March 1982; (b) the total repayable advances repaid to the Exchequer up to 31 March 1982; (c) the total value of shares held by the State at 31 March 1982; (d) if an application has been made for further Exchequer aid and if so, the amount; and (e) the names of the board members and the fees paid to (i) the chairman and (ii) the members.
Written Answers. - NET.
992.
NET received a total of £6 million in repayable advances from the Exchequer in the early sixties for the construction of the fertiliser plant at Arklow. Under the Nitrigín Éireann Teoranta Act, 1970, £3.5 million of these advances was converted into share capital. The remaining £2.5 million is repayable (with interest) to the Exchequer by NET over a 25-year period, which commenced on 1 January 1971: the total principal repaid to the Exchequer at 31 March 1982 was £1,796,000. At 31 March 1982 NET's total medium- and short-term borrowings amounted to approximately £177 million. The bulk of these borrowings is from the commercial banking institutions.
The issued share capital of NET at 31 March 1982 is £77.5 million. Apart from a qualifying share held by each of the directors, all of the share capital in NET is held by the Minister for Finance. In 1980, NET applied for £90 million in additional State equity in order to restore its capital base. In May 1981 the Minister for Finance took up additional shares amounting to £50 million in NET. The balance of the company's application for additional share capital remains outstanding.
The names of the present members of the board of NET are Sean MacHale, Chairman, G.T. Paul Conlon, Managing Director, Aidan Barry, Daniel Byrne, John Good, John Hoban, Anthony Hobbs, William Kavanagh, Thomas Kiernan, Hugh Ryan.
An annual fee of £1,200 is paid to the chairman of NET and £800 to each of the members of the board.
993.
asked the Minister for Industry and Energy if the Government has any plans prepared in regard to dealing with the accumulative losses of Nitrigín Éireann Teoranta which amounted to £79,223,313 at 31 December 1980.
The Government are concerned about the financial position of NET and in particular the very high level of the company's losses in recent years. However the financial performance of the company is improving. Under a new chairman and a new managing director, NET are tackling their major problems and further progress is essential if the company are to have any prospect of viability in the future. NET have already withdrawn from a number of unprofitable activities, organisation structures and manning levels are being reviewed, consultants have been brought in to advise on various aspects of the company's operations and the technical performance of the plants has been dramatically improved.
Following the provision of additional equity of £50 million to NET in May 1981 and partly on foot of recommendations contained in the report on NET by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on State-Sponsored bodies, the Government decided to establish an inter departmental committee to consider options for the future of the company. The committee will be reporting to me soon and the Government will then consider what policy should be adopted towards NET in the future.