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

I have already given the reply to the Deputy so there is no point in my reading it again.

Let us consider the NTMA's plans for this year. The deficit for this year will be 0.4% of the GDP or approximately €1 billion or less. The borrowing plans for the NTMA are between €9 billion and €13 billion. The bulk of what it is borrowing is for refinancing and is to deal with the peaks and valleys effect that the Deputy has mentioned. If one considers what the agency raised yesterday on the markets - it may have been for five or seven years - it was definitely for a short duration but it was modelled on refinancing so that the maturities would come in during the slack years. I will raise the matter again with the NTMA to see if there is more scope. The agency is very conscious of it.