asked the Minister for Finance the level of foreign exchange reserves; and the foreign debt of the semi-State bodies as at 31 March 1981.

On the 31 March 1981 the official external reserves stood at £1,322.7 million. The foreign debt of semi-State bodies on the same date was estimated at £1,100 million.

Is the Minister satisfied that the debts of semi-State bodies alone, not including those of the Government, should almost equal our external reserves? Does he regard that as a satisfactory situation?

I am not here to comment on that.

That is a neat one.

The Deputy's question would be more properly directed towards asking to what purpose those borrowings are used. They are used, to a large extent, towards creating employment, providing employment in the public and semi-State companies and for development.

Would the Minister not agree that it is an unhealthy situation that our external reserves have fallen so low that they barely cover the borrowings by semi-State bodies, not even including the very substantial debts incurred by the State itself, which far exceed those of the semi-State bodies?

It is wrong to say that the reserves have fallen low. In fact, the figure I have given is equal to 3.1 months' input cover. I recently answered a question by the Deputy in the House indicating how well in line we were with our targets.