Mr. Jim O'Brien:

Mr. Moran has said a great deal in explaining the background, but a statement was issued by Ministers last Tuesday after they met in Brussels and in that statement it moved the process on to say that the work that has been advanced should continue. The Ministers agreed that we should consider the possibility of the adjustment of maturities, which is a positive move. It is not a decision just yet, and they will come back to it for both Ireland and Portugal. They agreed also to ask the troika to build on the work already begun at senior official level and to bring forward the best options for both countries. There is still a good deal of work to be done but as Mr. Moran said, the main point is to look at the peaks and troughs in terms of the maturity of the debt facing us in the years ahead. It would be very helpful, in terms of an exit strategy as part of a broader package of measures, to ease that out, which will give confidence to the private sector to invest as well. The options are not fully worked out yet but they range from a very short extension of maturities out to a much larger range of maturities. Obviously, from our point of view we would like to have a reasonably large extension on maturities so that there is confidence and a sustainable and durable exit from the programme underpinned by that.