asked the Minister for Finance if he will allocate part of the windfall receipts to the Exchequer following the recent amnesty to the relief of famine in the Third World.

As I have indicated, the receipts from the tax amnesty will reduce the level of borrowing and debt. They will not be available to finance additional expenditure.

The allocation for the International Co-operation Vote is 10 per cent up on this year's allocation. It is through payments made from this Vote that the Government make their primary contribution, either bilaterally or through international agencies, to development assistance programmes including famine relief. Contributions to other multilateral aid programmes are made from Central Fund Services and from certain other Votes. In addition, the Government have in recent weeks allocated £800,000 from the proceeds of the national lottery to be applied towards disaster relief.