§ Rev. Ian Paisleyasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, further to the written reply on 2 March, Official Report, c. 20, whether, since the receipts from the European regional development fund infrastructure projects, referred to in his reply, are passed on to the bodies undertaking the relevant work, these receipts may be regarded as direct cash additions to the resources of the whole economy of Northern Ireland; whether European regional development fund receipts for other industrial projects, referred to in his reply, are retained by the Government; and if he will distinguish between and publish the extent of industrial and infrastructure receipts to Northern Ireland from the fund, in the manner used in reply to a parallel question in the Official Report on 14 April 1980.
§ Mr. Adam Butler[pursuant to his reply, 30 March 1981.]: My reply of 2 March 1981 stated that it is not possible to identify precisely how different areas or 90W different expenditure programmes would be affected if regional fund receipts were not available; nevertheless, the expectation of receipts from the fund is taken into account in authorising infrastructure projects to proceed. In practice the passing on of infrastructure receipts to the bodies charged with responsibility for the provision of infrastructure in Northern Ireland does represent a direct benefit to those bodies by enabling them to reduce their capital indebtedness. Receipts in respect of industrial projects in Northern Ireland, as in other parts of the United Kingdom, are retained by the Government in partial payment for financial assistance already provided. Figures for (i) industrial receipts and (ii) infrastructure receipts in each financial year since the fund's inception to 20 February 1981 are as follows: