asked the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Tourism the appointments made by him to his Department since his appointment as a member of Government, the names of those appointed, the nature of each post and salary attached thereto and if such appointments have been made from within the public service or elsewhere.

The following are the relevant particulars in respect of appointments in my Department since my present appointment as member of the Government other than those (a) made as a result of competitions conducted by the Civil Service Commissioners (b) arising in the normal course of promotions and (c) made to posts involving subordinate duties.

I appointed Mr. Brendan McDonald as my economic adviser and Mrs. Marie McLoughlin as my personal assistant. Mr. McDonald's appointment is part-time and attracts a daily fee of £69.55 at present. Mrs. McLoughlin is being paid at the rate of £79.16 per week at present.

Mr. McDonald had previously been economic adviser to the Minister for Economic Planning and Development. Mrs. McLoughlin had formerly been in the public service.

24.

asked the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Tourism if re-equipment grants for industry will be continued, if he will introduce special grants for new micro-processing techniques and if he will make a statement on the matter.

The operation of the re-equipment grants scheme, which was introduced in 1969 to enable Irish manufacturing industry to raise its standards of efficiency in order to compete effectively in free trade, is at present being considered but I have taken no decisions yet as regards its future. Grants for microprocessor-based industries are provided by the Industrial Development Authority under their normal range of industrial investment incentives, which includes, in appropriate cases, assistance towards the cost of new product and process development.

The Minister may have misunderstood my question. I was trying to get at whether he or his Department had any views on how the overall industrial situation might react to the massive impact of having to introduce high technology into their industries overall, not in the microprocessing industry as such. I am talking about overall industries having to meet the cost of installing high-technology instruments and equipment in this era.

There are certain grants and incentives available at the moment which in certain circumstances would be available towards the cost of the installation of these kinds of high-technology equipment, but frequently, of course, these are self-financing in the sense that they will often reduce the company's costs. They are not the kind of equipment in respect of which one would be very anxious to see large grants paid in, but where appropriate grants are paid. They are paid at the moment.

Has the Minister in his possession any study made on the impact of microprocessing and the whole area of high-technology industry at the moment?

That is a separate question.

A number of such studies have been made, mainly abroad and some here, and these are taken into account. The Deputy should bear in mind in regard to microprocessors that they will impact on us and on our employment situation generally in any event, but we are in the happy position that a significant proportion of that equipment will be built in this country. Since it would come in here anyway it is advantageous for us that quite a bit of it would be practically of Irish origin.

Has there been any examination of the impact of this microprocessing technique on employment within the civil service?

That is a separate question.

That is a matter for the Minister for the Public Service, but I believe that that Department had that matter under study. The Deputy should address a question to the Minister concerned.