Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if he will now seek to amend the legislation governing the activities of the Northern Ireland electricity service so as to ensure that 750W the service would be required to charge interest on overdue accounts.
§ Mr. Concannon, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 19 March 1979; Vol. 964, c. 497], gave the following information:
The proposal to make the charging of interest on debt mandatory has wide implications which require careful consideration, and I do not consider that it would be the answer to the present debt recovery problem of the Northern Ireland electricity service.
Mr. Wm. Rossasked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what is the rate of interest payable on the £33.3 million loan to the Northern Ireland electricity service from the European Investment Bank.
§ Mr. Concannon, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 19 March 1979; Vol. 964, c. 497], gave the following information:
The loan agreement between the Northern Ireland electricity service and the European Investment Bank provides that the rate of interest payable to the EIB on the loan shall be determined 15 days before the date on which the loan is taken up. No rate of interest has yet been determined as the Northern Ireland electricity service has yet to draw on the loan.