Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 17: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of borrowing decisions by the Dublin Docklands Development Authority which required approval since its establishment; the amount of money approved in each instance; if he attached conditions or warnings with permission for increased debt; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9596/10]

John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)
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Under the provisions of Section 30 of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority Act 1997, as amended, the Authority may, with the sanction of the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, given with the consent of the Minister for Finance, borrow up to €127 million for current or capital purposes.

Sanction was granted to the Authority in June 2001 by the Minister for the Environment and Local Government, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, to borrow £25m (€31.8m) to fund an overdraft facility of £5m and a revolving credit facility of up to £20m to fund specific development activities.

In October 2006, the Authority sought and received sanction from the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to borrow up to €127 million for the purposes of property acquisition, primarily in connection with the impending acquisition of the Irish Glass Bottle site. This sanction was granted, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, on the explicit basis that repayments would be wholly from the Authority's own resources and without recourse to the Exchequer. The Department of Finance also consented to the Authority taking a shareholding in a special purpose company to facilitate the joint venture development of the IGB site.

The Authority is operating within the €127m sanction.