asked the Minister for Finance the amount of moneys received from EEC sources by this country in the period June, 1973, to June, 1977; and the amount paid by this country to the EEC in the same period.

The information sought by the Deputy is in the form of a tabular statement which I propose with the permission of the Ceann Comhairle, to have circulated with the Official Report.

The figures included in the table for receipts by way of grants and subsidies represent the amounts of money actually received under the various headings during the period in question. They differ in some respects from the figures published in the six monthly Reports to the Oireachtas on Developments in the European Communities (Annex II) which represent the amounts of grants and subsidies approved. This is because there is normally a time lag between the approval of grants and the date of their payment, with the result that receipts from the Community to date have been somewhat less than the amount of grants approved.

Following is the statement:

Ireland's receipts from, and payments to, the European Communities during the period 1st July, 1973 to 30th June, 1977

Loans approved for Ireland during the period 1st July, 1973 to 30th June, 1977, were as follows:

NOTES:

(1) Receipts under the Guarantee Section include amounts of £24 million in 1976 and £63 million in the period 1st January to 30th June, 1977, for UK and Italian MCA import subsidies which have been administered by Ireland in respect of Irish exports to the UK and Italy since 17th May, 1976.

(2) In addition to the receipts figures shown in the table, receipts also arise as a result of Community regulations on social security for migrant workers. Ireland's receipts under this heading were £0.75 million in 1973 (1st July—31st December), £1.3 million in 1974, £2.0 million in 1975, £2.2 million in 1976 and £2.0 million in the period 1st January to 30th June 1977.