Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Can I take you to the bailout itself and the interest rates attaching to the various elements of the bailout programme? The rate on the EFSM was 5.7% initially; the EFSF, 6.05%. Now, the IMF rate seems to have been quite rigid in that it has determined by set rules of that organisation. But can you explain how the EU elements of the funding for the bailout programme arrived at those figures, which were higher than the Government was expecting? Was there an element of negotiation involved or was the Government told, "These are the rates attaching to these streams of funding and that's it"?