asked the Minister for Finance the total amount of borrowings for 1979 and the annual cost of funding this amount.

The 1979 Exchequer borrowing requirement was £1,009 million and the estimated annual interest charge on this amount at current interest and exchange rates is £112 million.

Would the Minister give us an estimate of the percentage of total revenue represented by the amount we have to pay to service the national debt?

The proportion of borrowing represented by interest payments would by about 11 per cent—that is, the average interest payments.

Can the Minister express in terms of pennies in the £ the number of pennies that have to be paid out in interest terms?

I gave that figure yesterday in relation to total revenue. This relates to 1979 borrowing as distinct from total borrowing.