asked the Minister for Finance the number of loans that have been secured from either the European Investment Bank or the New Community Instrument for County Limerick since Ireland joined the EC.
Written Answers. - European Investment Bank Loans.
66.
Loans to Ireland by the European Investment Bank are not made available on a county basis. Generally speaking they have been raised by the Exchequer itself or by State-sponsored bodies such as the ESB or Irish Telecommunications Investments to help finance the main programmes of economic infrastructure such as telecommunications, energy, roads, water supply and sewerage etc. Since our accession to the European Communities in 1973, loans to Ireland by the European Investment Bank have amounted to IR£1,690 million of which IR£260 million came from the resources of the New Community Instrument. The programmes partly financed on foot of these loans are by their nature widely dispersed and cover every county. The loans are related to the total cost of the programmes and it would not be practicable to give a county breakdown of the amounts involved. Indeed certain programmes such as telephone subscriber connections, electricity distribution, arterial drainage etc. are not amenable to being classified on a county basis. Generally speaking only projects carried out under the auspices of local authorities can easily be provided on this basis. In the case of County Limerick 14 such projects have been partly financed by EIB loans — seven road projects and seven water supply and sewerage projects — but the county has also benefited from loans for investment in all the main sectors of economic infrastructure. Additionally a specific EIB loan was made available for the construction and equipping of Phase 1B of the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick.