Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Tuesday, 22 July 2025
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach
Engagement with the NTMA on Matters Relating to its Operation
2:00 am
Mr. Frank O'Connor:
Any number in the views is a forecast and will depend on assumptions. As we said in the annual report, we have just hit our lowest level of interest per annum. Members might remember that it was €3.2 billion for 2024. It peaked at €7.8 billion in 2013, which is a decline of 60%. This is reflective of the strategy to lock in fixed rates and lower rates for an extended period of time. We expect the interest bill to gradually increase into the end of the decade. Why is that? It is a natural consequence that some of this cheaper debt would start to mature and one would have to fund it. If it is based off current rates it would gradually have to be funded at the higher rate. The average rate would start to increase but the increase would be more gradual. At the turn of the decade, however, one would definitely start seeing it. It is no surprise that one would start to see forecasts showing an increase from what probably might be the lowest charge at around €3.2 billion. It is a forecast and it would have assumptions. I do not have to hand what assumptions they use.
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