To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what is the current level of coal exports from Scotland to Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

This Department does not collect such information. However, I understand that sales from Scotland to Northern Ireland by British Coal totalled some 1,019,000 tonnes in the year ended 31 March 1990, of which 921,000 tonnes went to the electricity supply industry. British Coal exports for the current year are estimated at around 800,000 tonnes.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what are the current levels of coal exports from Scotland to other European countries.

Latest figures from the Department of Transport show that in the first nine months of 1990 shipments of coal from Scottish ports to European countries were as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland when he last met with British Coal representatives to discuss the export of coal to Northern Ireland; and if he will make a statement.

Responsibility for the coal industry in Great Britain rests with my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Energy, who meets the chairman of British Coal on a regular basis to discuss all aspects of the coal industry.

To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what information he has on the number of Ayrshire jobs dependent on coal exports to Ireland.

There is no information on the number of jobs in Ayrshire dependent on coal exports to Ireland. However British Coal advises that there are at present 817 jobs associated with opencast coal mining in Ayrshire, of which 545 employees are directly employed on site by British Coal or its contractors. The majority of output from Ayrshire mines is at present bought for use in power generation and industrial consumption in Northern Ireland, with a further small amount exported to Eire.