Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not think the figures are changing month-by-month in Europe, or in this country either, but it is possible now to identify certain trends both in the Irish economy and in the European economy. On ten-year bond interest rates, the trend has been downward but that is for reasons that were well planned in the Department of Finance and through the NTMA. Effectively, we are de-risking the Irish debt all the time. The principal reason for Irish ten-year bonds to be at 2.9% coming down from 3% ten days ago is a realisation in the markets that there is no further risk left in IBRC and that the risk in NAMA has been eliminated. What one sees is what one gets in terms of Ireland. The quantum of sovereign debt is what we have to deal with and no side issue is going to jump up and surprise people as they go forward. That is not to say that interest rates will not rise again and that it would not affect sovereign spreads but the issue is the relative rate. It was very narrow this morning on the five-year paper. With the five-year German bond, there were only 40 basis points. It was slightly more on the ten-year paper. We are moving in the right direction but we need to work on it every day. The ten-year was 140 basis points above the bond.