asked the Minister for Finance if he will state the amount of State expenditure on capital development schemes in the first six months of the financial years 1952-53 and 1953-54 under the same headings as given in the Budget statements.

Details of capital expenditure, as set out in the Financial Statements, are compiled on an annual basis only as the expenditure is spread over a number of Votes and Central Fund issues and its incidence varies during the year. Provisional totals for the first six months of 1953-54 show a State capital expenditure of £17.6 millions as against £15.4 millions for the corresponding period of 1952-53.