17 Mr. Doyle asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he has satisfied himself that Article 92 of the EC Treaty governing State aid is sufficiently far-reaching in its present form, to prevent richer EC member states unduly favouring enterprises in their own jurisdiction to the disadvantage of enterprises in poorer EC member states.

20 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he has satisfied himself that Article 92 of the EC Treaty governing State aid is sufficiently far-reaching, in its present form, to prevent richer EC member states unduly favouring enterprises in their own jurisdiction to the disadvantage of enterprises in poorer EC member states.

22 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he has satisfied himself that Article 92 of the EC Treaty governing State aid is sufficiently far-reaching in its present form, to prevent richer EC member states unduly favouring enterprises in their own jurisdiction to the disadvantage of enterprises in poorer EC member states.

30 Mr. Harte asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he has satisfied himself that Article 92 of the EC Treaty governing State aid is sufficiently far-reaching, in its present form, to prevent richer EC member states unduly favouring enterprises in their own jurisdiction to the disadvantage of enterprises in poorer EC member states.

32 Mr. Enright asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he has satisfied himself that Article 92 of the EC Treaty governing state aid is sufficiently far-reaching, in its present form, to prevent richer EC member states unduly favouring enterprises in their own jurisdiction to the disadvantage of enterprises in poorer EC member states.

62 Mrs. Fennell asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he has satisfied himself that Article 92 of the EC Treaty governing state aid is sufficiently far-reaching, in its present form, to prevent richer EC member states unduly favouring enterprises in their own jurisdiction to the disadvantage of enterprises in poorer EC member states.

76 Mr. Farrelly asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he has satisfied himself that Article 92 of the EC Treaty governing state aid is sufficiently far-reaching, in its present form, to prevent richer EC member states unduly favouring enterprises in their own jurisdiction to the disadvantage of enterprises in poorer EC member states.

84 Mr. Finucane asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he has satisfied himself that Article 92 of the EC Treaty governing state aid is sufficiently far-reaching, in its present form, to prevent richer EC member states unduly favouring enterprises in their own jurisdiction to the disadvantage of enterprises in poorer EC member states.

I propose to take Oral Questions Nos. 17, 20, 22, 30, 32, 62, 76 and 84 together.

The Government's primary objective in so far as State aids is concerned is to see a reduction in the level and availability of State aids in the richer member states both to make our aids more attractive by comparison and to allow us to minimise the cost of our aids to the Exchequer.

The State aids policy being pursued by the EC Commission is in line with this objective on an EC-wide basis. A stricter application of State aid policy has been initiated by the Commission having regard to the potential State aids hold for distorting competition in the context of EC market integration and economic and social cohesion. I believe that, used to the full, the instruments available to the Commission in the Treaty provisions governing State aids are sufficient to enable it to discharge this task effectively.

It has to be recognised, however, that there has been an insufficient application of these instruments in the past, as evidenced by the fact that the richer member states account for the bulk of total aids to manufacturing in the Community. As recognised in the recent Culliton report, we must maintain pressure for more effective EC restrictions on State aids in other Member States.

In the post-Maastricht situation Ireland and, I imagine, the other weaker member states will be pressing strongly to ensure that the effect of State aid on economic and social cohesion becomes the predominant criterion in examining State aid cases. In this regard, the cohesion provisions, which were improved on significantly at Maastricht, will require that the formulation and implementation of the Communities policies and actions should take account of the cohesion objective and contribute to its achievement.