asked the Minister for Justice (a) the total debt of all semi-State bodies, or any boards or bodies under the jurisdiction of his Department, at the latest available date; and (b) the cost of servicing the debt.

The answer is that there are no boards or other bodies, of the kind envisaged in the question, under the jurisdiction of my Department.

233.

asked the Minister for Social Welfare (a) the total debt of all semi-State bodies, or any boards or bodies under the jurisdiction of his Department, at the latest available date; and (b) the cost of servicing the debt.

The only body in question under the jurisdiction of my Department is the Board for Employment of the Blind.

The total debt of the Board is £55,000, a mortgage loan secured towards the purchase of the Board's premises at Ardee Rd., Rathmines.

This loan, effective from 8th December, 1966, is repayable over a period of 35 years in six-monthly instalments made up of a proportion of the repayment of principal, and a proportion of the accrued compound interest at 7 per cent per annum.

234.

asked the Minister for Education (a) the total debt of all semi-State bodies, or any boards or bodies under the jurisdiction of his Department, at the latest available date; and (b) the cost of servicing the debt.

There is no semi-State body, or other board or body as envisaged in the Deputy's question, under the jurisdiction of my Department.