Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In layman's terms, if we paid that off our national debt and brought it down €180 billion instead of the €203 billion we owe, we would save on interest. Then in two years time or whatever time it comes to be paid back on the markets, we went out and borrowed money which we got very cheaply. Would we gain more by doing that - saving on the €20 million or whatever amount of money for the next two years whenever these bonds mature - and then borrowing at that stage? Is it better to have this money sitting there not making much profit? It is sitting there waiting for these bonds to mature and then we will have the money, which is great, but would we gain more fiscally the other way?