Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 13 February 2014

Public Accounts Committee

2012 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Chapter 2 - Government Debt
Chapter 28 - Accounts of the National Treasury Management Agency
Chapter 29 - Clinical Indemnity Scheme
2012 Annual Report and Accounts - National Pensions Reserve Fund

2:50 am

Mr. John Corrigan:

No. Unfortunately, we do not have a crystal ball but to address the question seriously, I have made the point on a number of occasions that at 3.25%, which is the current yield on ten year Irish Government bonds, we could not have borrowed on those terms when we had a triple A rating. Currently, the bond yields are anchored to the low short-term rates, which reflect the very easy monetary policy being run by central banks. The short answer to the question is that as long as the European Central Bank continues to run an easy monetary policy at the short end, other things being equal, we are not likely to see a major change in bond yields.