asked the Minister for Finance the total national debt in (a) June, 1977; and (b) the projected figure for December, 1983.

No national debt figure is available for June 1977. The national debt stood at £3,612 million at 31 December 1976, and £4,229 million at 31 December 1977.

It is not the practice to provide projections of National Debt for a variety of reasons and I regret, therefore, I am not in a position to give a figure for December 1983. However, it is estimated that the National Debt was approximately £12,700 million at 31 December 1982.