Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

There was no preponderance of Irish institutions in the bond issue in January. There was considerable international interest in it. One of the unfortunate features of the bond issue while it was being completed was the appearance of an entirely inaccurate story by the national broadcaster about the IMF. Happily, the story did not affect its completion.

The yield on Ireland's ten-year government bonds is approximately 275 basis points over the German equivalent. This spread over Germany is due to a number of factors and it is impossible to quantify the impact of each. These include global factors, which are affecting all euro sovereign borrowers benchmarked to the German bond, and national specific factors. Earlier this year, Germany had considerable difficulty issuing bonds at the stated levels. The NTMA offered 4% on its bond issue on the basis it was confident market expectations would be met, which was the case.

I agree with the Deputy regarding the worrying trend that our gross borrowing requirements this year are far in excess of last year and that is why the Government has brought forward measures to stabilise the public finances. It is essential we do so.

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