asked the Minister for Finance the reason securities purchased under the Occupational Injuries Fund were sold at a loss of £532,000 during 1979, if it is the policy that these moneys should be invested only in `giltedge' stable Government securities; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Occupational Injuries Fund Securities.
265.
The Occupational Injuries Fund comprises a current account managed by the Minister for Social Welfare and an investment account managed by the Minister for Finance. Moneys standing to the credit of the current account and not required to meet current expenditure are transferred to the investment account of the fund. Whenever the moneys in the current account are insufficient to meet its liabilities such sums as are necessary to discharge those liabilities are transferred to that account from the investment account.
As there were no demands in the early years of the fund for repayments to the current account, moneys available for investment were placed in long-dated Government securities, which, at the time, were considered to be the most suitable investment.
To meet requests to repay moneys to the current account in 1979 it was necessary to sell some of the long-dated stocks. Capital losses arose on these sales because the market price of the stocks had dropped as a result of the rise in interest rates generally.
The types of securities in which moneys of the fund may be invested are set out in the Social Welfare (Occupational Injuries) Act, 1966. In practice, investment is confined to Government securities and deposits with the Central Bank.