Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

I thank the House for agreeing to discuss the European Financial Stability Facility and the Euro Area Loan Facility (Amendment) Bill 2011 today at short notice. The Bill is needed urgently to allow Ireland ratify the changes to the European Financial Stability Facility and Greek Loan Facility as agreed by the Heads of State or Government on 21 July 2011. It is essential for ensuring financial stability within the euro area.

As Deputies will be aware, euro area member states agreed in May 2010 to create a European Financial Stability Facility, EFSF, in order to safeguard the financial stability of the euro area and to financially support euro area member states which are in difficulties caused by exceptional circumstances beyond their control. The EFSF was incorporated on 7 June 2010 for the purpose of providing stability support to euro area member states in the form of guaranteed loans of up to €440 billion within a limited period of time.

In order to ensure a triple A rating, which provides access to low cost funds, the EFSF adopted complex structures - involving over guarantee of bonds issued and credit enhancement measures such as cash buffers and prepaid margins on loans. These measures reduced its effective lending capacity to some €250 billion, and increased the effective cost of borrowing for borrowers.

Under the EU-IMF financial support programme agreed on 28 November 2010, Ireland accessed one loan of €4.2 billion from the EFSF maturing in July 2016. The total amount available to Ireland from the EFSF under the programme is €17.7 billion.

On 30 June 2011, euro area Ministers for Finance signed an amendment to the European Financial Stability Facility Framework Agreement, subject to the completion of national parliamentary procedures. The main purpose of the June 2011 amendment agreement is to increase the effective lending capacity of the EFSF back up to its headline volume of €440 billion by increasing the over-guarantee percentage to 165% of the amount raised by the facility. The amendments include specification of the margin applying to loans to future programme countries, changes to the pricing structure including the introduction of a new advance margin, a specific reference to Ireland becoming a stepping out guarantor, which occurred on entering the EU-IMF programme, and the potential transfer of EFSF rights, obligations and-or liabilities to the ESM.

On 21 July 2011, the Heads of State or Government announced further measures to ensure the financial stability of the euro area and to stem risk of contagion. These measures include a new programme of assistance for Greece and increasing the flexibility of the EFSF and the ESM by allowing them to act on the basis of a precautionary programme, to finance recapitalisation of financial institutions through loans to governments and to intervene in primary and secondary sovereign bond markets on the basis of ECB analysis. The Heads of State or Government agreed to reduce the interest rate on EFSF loans to Ireland, Greece and Portugal to lending rates equivalent to those of the balance of payments facility, close to, without going below, the EFSF funding cost as well as lengthening the loan maturities.

We discussed this further in Poland this week. The proposals from the European Commission on the EFSM have yet to be decided by ECOFIN and are likely to be decided on 4 October. Some details of the EFSF also need to be finalised.

It is now calculated that the overall savings from the reductions in the margins applying to the EU related programme funding is about €9 billion over the average life of seven and a half years as originally envisaged for the loans. This saving of about €9 billion represents 5.7% of the current forecasted level of GDP in 2011. In terms of 2012 the NTMA now calculate that the savings on the EU funds will be about €900 million.

Legislation is required to enable Ireland ratify both the June amendments to the EFSF framework agreement and those arising from the decision of 21 July 2011 in the form of amendments to the European Financial Stability Facility Act 2010. As the June amendments had not yet been ratified by most countries, a consolidated set of amendments was agreed and these are set out in Schedule 1 to the Bill before us today.

As Deputies will be aware, the delay in implementing the 21 July Head of State or Government decisions in relation to the EFSF is adding to market uncertainty. Also Ireland, Portugal and Greece cannot benefit from the reduced interest rate and increased flexibility until the revised EFSF is implemented. It is for these reasons that ratification of the EFSF and the revised Greek LFA are now an urgent priority. At the informal eurogroup meeting in Poland last weekend all euro area countries confirmed they would work to ratify the amendments to the EFSF as quickly as possible. Many countries have already provided confirmation that they have ratified it. Ireland, as a recipient of assistance from the EFSF, should not delay the ratification of the amendments to the EFSF.

Ireland's EFSF loan facility agreement will be revised to give effect to the cost reductions from the reduced interest rate and longer maturities agreed by the Heads of State and Government. This will require the unanimous agreement of the loan guarantors.

The decision of the euro area Heads of State and Government on 21 July also has consequences for the ESM treaty in that the treaty signed by euro area Finance Ministers in July, subject to the necessary parliamentary procedures, will now require amendment. Discussions are continuing at a technical level on the text of the amendments. The revised ESM treaty, incorporating the amendments, will be dealt with in separate legislation later this year or early next year. The ESM is due to come into force and take over from the EFSF during 2013, subject to ratification by all euro area member states.

Arising from the serious budgetary and economic problems affecting Greece and its inability to secure international funding at sustainable rates and in the context of safeguarding the financial stability of the European Union and the euro area, it was agreed on foot of an intergovernmental agreement in May 2010 to provide bilateral loans totalling €80 billion for Greece from the euro area member states in conjunction with IMF assistance of €30 billion over a three year period to mid-2013.

In June Finance Ministers agreed at eurogroup level to revise the Greek loan facility to allow for the extension of the grace period between draw-down and the commencement of repayment from three to 4.5 years, the extension of the maturity period for loans from five to ten years and a change in the calculation of the margin relating to loans to Greece to give it a lower interest rate. The Commission signed the loan facility agreement for Greece on behalf of euro area member states on 14 June, pending ratification by the individual euro area member states. In Ireland's case, this means the Euro Area Loan Facility Act 2010 requires amendment. The Bill provides for the ratification of these amendments to the Greek loan facility agreement.

In line with the Heads of State and Government decision of 21 July on a new programme of assistance for Greece, a second amendment to the Greek loan facility is being finalised to allow for a longer grace period and a lengthening of the loan maturity to 15 years. Once finalised, the Commission will sign the second amendment on behalf of the euro area member states.

The European Financial Stability Facility and Euro Area Loan Facility (Amendment) Bill 2011, as brought before the House today, does not provide for the second amendment to the Greek loan facility as the second amendment had not been signed in time. As soon as it is signed, we will have to bring forward separate legislation to ratify it. Given the importance of the amendment to the EFSF framework agreement to Ireland in securing an interest rate reduction and the pressure being put on euro area member states to ratify the amendments to the EFSF and the first amendment to the Greek loan facility, we cannot delay the Bill any longer waiting for the second amendment to the Greek loan facility to be agreed and signed.

Turning to the Bill, as I have mentioned, it provides for amendments to the European Financial Stability Facility Act 2010 and the Euro Area Loan Facility Act 2010. The Bill has three sections, with the amendment to the EFSF framework agreement set out in Schedule 1and the amendment to the Greek loan facility agreement of 14 June set out in Schedule 2.

The first section of the Bill provides that the references to the EFSF framework agreement in the European Financial Stability Facility Act 2010 shall include the amendment to the EFSF framework agreement. It also increases the amount that may be paid from the Central Fund to €12.5 billion from €7.5 billion in line with the increase in the notional guarantee ceiling for Ireland as set out in Annex 1 to the amendment. It is notional because the amendment agreement specifically notes that Ireland and Portugal have become stepping out guarantors. Despite this point, the figure is being amended for reasons of consistency.

Section 2 provides that the references to the loan facility agreement in the Euro Area Loan Facility Act 2010 shall include the amendment to it of 14 June. Section 3 sets out the Short Title.

The EFSF amendment agreement is set out in Schedule 1. The main changes to the EFSF framework agreement are set out in the amendments to the preamble in the framework agreement. These are: Article 1.(1) provides for Estonia to become a party to the framework agreement - this was a requirement of it joining the euro at the start of 2011; Article 1.(4) sets out the changes arising from the decision of the Heads of State and Government in July to expand the financial assistance that the EFSF can provide in the future beyond the loan facilities it is limited to by the framework agreement.

The changes include: (1) the provision of loans, precautionary facilities and loans for governments of euro area member states, including non-programme member states, to finance the recapitalisation of banks; (2) the purchase of bonds in the secondary bond markets on the basis of an ECB analysis recognising the existence of exceptional financial circumstances and risks to financial stability; (3) the purchase of euro area bonds in the primary market; (4) increasing the effective capacity of the EFSF to its headline €440 billion figure by increasing the level of over-guarantee from €440 billion, 120%, to €780 billion, 165%; (5) amending the pricing structure to cost of funds plus a margin of 200 basis points for the first three years for each financial assistance and 300 basis points thereafter - however, in line with the 21 July decision, the preamble will also be amended to note that Greece is to receive loans at lending rates equivalent to those of the balance of payments without going below the cost of funds and that these lending rates will also be applied for Ireland and Portugal; (6) providing that the maturities for Greece are to be a minimum of 15 years and up to 30 years and these should also apply for Ireland and Portugal.

The remaining paragraphs of Article 1, from paragraph (9) to paragraph (60), amend the aticles of the framework agreement to provide for the changes listed above. Many of the amendments are technical or text changes such as changing "Loan Facility Agreement" in a number of articles to read "Financial Assistance Facility Agreement".

Annex 1, containing the guarantee commitments for each euro area member state, has been amended because of the increase in the level of total guarantees to €780 billion. Ireland's figure is increasing from just over €7 billion to just under €12.4 billion. However, the annex has also been amended to make it clear that Ireland, Greece and Portugal have become stepping-out guarantors, thereby bringing the effect level of total guarantees down to €726 billion, which is 165% of €440 billion.

Annex 2 which sets out the contribution key based on the ECB capital subscription has also been amended because of Estonia joining the euro and the EFSF. Ireland's contribution decreases from 1.5915% to 1.5874%.

Schedule 2 to the Bill sets out the amendment agreement to the Greek loan facility agreement. The changes are: the grace period at the start of each loan during which principal is not payable is increased to 4.5 years from three years; the maximum term of a loan is increased to ten years from five, and the margin applicable to loans from this facility is to be reduced by 100 basis points. The amount available to Greece under this facility is unchanged because future loans will come from the EFSF.

I look forward to a constructive debate on the Bill. Now is a time for unity among euro area countries to ensure financial stability within the euro area. The revised EFSF forms part of the measures to ensure that stability and Ireland must play its part, as it is in the interests of this country and the eurozone to do so. Therefore, I urge Deputies to agree to ratify the changes to the EFSF and the Greek loan facility. I commend the Bill to the House.

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