asked the Minister for Industry and Energy the amount of State aid paid to industry in each year since 1970.

I assume that the Deputy's question refers to the payment of grants to industry by the development agencies under the aegis of my Department.

Details of grants and financial assistance paid by the Industrial Development Authority and the Shannon Free Airport Development Company are published in the annual reports of the two bodies.

In the period April 1970 to December 1981, the IDA and SFADCo paid a total of £618,532,734 to new and established industry by way of grant assistance.