Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for his reply. Let us be clear about the purpose of the amendment. If I walk into my bank and seek a temporary financial arrangement, it is because I have hit an unforeseen difficulty and I need money to tide me over that. It is not too great a leap to suggest if Coillte requires money on an temporary basis, it is because of some unforeseen or short-term financial difficulty. The purpose of the amendment is to restrict the degree to which it can dig in to its overall borrowing requirement or capacity, which we would prefer to be used for solid business investment, for such purposes as increased plantation and increased economic activity that will create jobs and profits for the company and a dividend for the State. The purpose of the amendment is to acknowledge that in any business there is a time when short-term emergency financial cover is needed, but that Coillte should not fritter away all of its borrowing requirement on that basis. There should be a sound strategic investment behind the vast majority of any borrowings. The amendment proposes that Coillte should only have temporary borrowings of up to 25% of the total maximum borrowings and that if the company wishes to exceed €100 million of temporary borrowings, it must have the express approval of Dáil Éireann. I believe this is a very sensible safeguard not least because we do not have time to tease out all the issues in this legislation, but equally it is a very solid, sensible business proposition because in any circumstances one should not dip into a potential capital fund for investment to deal with short-term or day-to-day financial difficulties, whether to meet incidental expenses on a daily, weekly or monthly basis or to deal with pension issues. The amendment is a solid proposal which the Minister should consider.

When I moved the original amendment I did not refer to the second part which states that money borrowed temporarily at any point in the accounting year should be noted in the annual report of the company for that accounting year. I do not accept the Minister of State's statement that the level of indebtedness and details to the effect that certain debt was used for purposes X, Y and Z are contained in the annual report. It does not indicate that €50 million was borrowed for new capital or timber extraction or that €5 million of the temporary borrowing requirement was used to shore up the pension fund. Such detail is not provided. I call on the Minister of State to reconsider his statement because such detail is not available in the annual report, although it should be because such safeguards would protect the public purse.

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