asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs the attitude of the Government to applications from the Government of Chile for loans from international bodies of which Ireland is a member, bearing in mind the appalling record on human rights of the Chilean regime.

The view of the Government in relation to the operations of organisations of a specialised and technical character has been that normally such organisations should operate according to the technical guidelines which govern their particular areas of activity. These organisations, of course, undertake through their own officials thorough assessments and evaluations of proposals submitted to them to ensure that these meet the criteria of the organisations themselves. In keeping with this view Ireland supported a World Bank loan to Chile in 1976, though the views of the Government on the human rights situation in Chile were made clear at the time of the vote.

The grave violations of human rights which have taken place in Chile in recent years have been a matter of serious concern to the Government. This concern has been made clear at the United Nations, where Ireland has co-sponsored resolutions calling for the full restoration of human rights and basic freedoms in Chile, and in other international bodies, including the World Bank.

The decision in regard to any particular application by the Chilean authorities to international bodies for financial assistance would have to take into account the benefits to be anticipated to the people of Chile generally or to the poorer sections of the population. If the Government were satisfied that a particular project would be of benefit to the people of Chile as a whole, which would imply that it involved no deterioration in the human rights situation in Chile, and that it conformed to the criteria of the organisation to which the application was made, the Government would not feel themselves obliged to oppose the granting of assistance. The Government could, of course, avail of such an occasion to express their views on the human rights situation in Chile, as has been done in the past.

The Deputy will realise that in some international bodies of which Ireland is a member a number of countries may be grouped together in one unit for the purpose of voting. In such a case a country such as Ireland would not be in a position to vote separately on an application for assistance and would have to consider making its views known by way of a statement by the representative of the country exercising the vote of the unit.

Could the Minister state whether or not there are any further applications for assistance from the Chilean authorities at present under consideration by any international body of the type described in the question?

I am not aware of any such applications but I would not be privy to that kind of information. Perhaps the Deputy would direct his question to the Minister for Finance.