Vol. 341 No. 4
: I move:
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £10 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 1983, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Industry and Energy, including certain services administered by that Office, and for payment of certain loans, subsidies, grants and grants-in-aid.
: I wish to protest about the fact that I asked twice yesterday for particulars of the Supplementary Estimate and I was not given any details. I had to wait until this morning to hear anything. It is normal practice to be told in advance.
: May I ask the Minister if the introduction of this Estimate has anything to do with the position of Whitegate oil refinery in Cork?
: That does not arise.
: There is a tradition that we are normally told in advance——
: Is Deputy Reynolds exercising his right to make a speech?
: I understood that this Supplementary Estimate was to be nodded through by agreement.
: I would have nodded it through if I had got any details about it.
: If Deputy Reynolds will bear with the Chair, the Chair wants to bring some order into the proceedings. The motion has been moved by the Minister for Finance. It is either agreed or there is going to be a debate on it. If there is going to be a debate I will call a Member from the Opposition party and a Member from the Government party.
: Would the Chair not agree that when something is to be agreed here this morning one should be told in advance what it is about?
: Our spokesman on Industry and Energy was looking for this document all day yesterday. We eventually received it from the office of the Government Chief Whip. I left it on Deputy Reynolds's desk last night.
: I had left the House at that stage.
: We looked for it all day, we got it yesterday evening and we agreed it would be nodded through.
: The Chief Whip got the document after I had left the House. That is not good enough. What is the purpose of the Supplementary Estimate?
: The purpose of the Supplementary Estimate is to allow certain payments to be made to the creditors of National Film Studios of Ireland and these must be paid by 18 April.
: If the Minister had said that first there would not have been any problems. However, it is obvious why I was not told about it because Fine Gael and the Labour Party——
: Deputy Reynolds, please. It is immaterial to the Chair whether this is agreed or not, but the Chair wants to conduct the business of this House in an orderly fashion. If it is not agreed, we can have a debate on it. Deputy Reynolds asked a question which was answered.
: I want to ask about the arithmetic of the Estimate. I have been fortunate enough to get a copy of the Supplementary Estimate and I am probably very privileged to have got this document. The document I have shows an original Estimate of £750,000. The revised Estimate is £750,000 plus £10. We are apparently voting through an additional sum of £10. Perhaps the Minister of State would explain how far that £10 will go to pay creditors.
: I am sure Deputy Haughey understands that this is a token Estimate, which is a technical device to allow these moneys to be paid prior to discussion in this House. It arises because they must be paid by 18 April. As soon as these moneys have been paid and identified we will come back with a proper Estimate and there will be a debate on it.
: Am I right in thinking that this is only a parliamentary finance device to enable these moneys to be paid out and that in fact the entire sum of £750,000 plus £10 will come before us in due course and we will have an opportunity of debating it?
: Of course, Sir.
(Dún Laoghaire): I wish to clarify one point. It is the obligation of the General Office to circulate the Estimate and that was done. When we heard it had not reached Deputy Reynolds we went to the General Office ourselves and sent him a copy through the Chief Whip.
