asked the Minister for Finance if he will state in respect of each year the sums advanced or guaranteed to each of the following organisations (1) the Electricity Supply Board, (2) the Agricultural Credit Corporation, (3) the Industrial Credit Company, Limited.

The following statement gives the information requested:—

* Liability for £6,010,080 of these advances has been transferred to the Electricity Supply Board.

† Payment under Section 11 of Agricultural Credit Act, 1929.

No guarantees have been given in the case of the Electricity Supply Board or the Industrial Credit Company.

In the case of the Agricultural Credit Corporation, Acts Nos. 24 of 1927 and 30 of 1929 impose a charge on the Minister in the event of the assets of the corporation on a winding-up proving insufficient to pay the full amount of the paid-up capital. The total paid-up capital is at present £500,000. Mortgage bonds to the amount of £500,000 issued by the corporation, which are primarily secured by first mortgages on holdings of agricultural land, have been guaranteed by the Minister in accordance with the statutes mentioned.