Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

As the Deputy is aware I have indicated that I am committed to reviewing the approach to the promissory notes with a view to reducing the overall cost to the State of correcting the banking system. The troika have agreed to engage in a process with Irish officials to produce a common paper which will consider options for re-engineering the notes in terms of the maturity of the notes, the interest rate, the cash flows and so on. Work is ongoing on this review.

The Deputy will appreciate that there are a number of parties involved in this process and it involves all the member states of the European Union and particularly the members of the eurozone. The Deputy will also appreciate that the situation in the eurozone remains unsettled and is changing on a daily basis. In these circumstances it would not be appropriate for me to comment in any detail about various options under consideration in advance of the conclusion of the considerations and the production of a common paper. Suffice to say that a broad range of options are under detailed consideration. Additional detail on the various proposals will be available when the ongoing work is further advanced.

In tandem with this technical review the Government has commenced a campaign at a political level to garner support for an approach which is more beneficial to the Irish State. The Minister for Finance and I met the Commissioner Mr. Rehn and Mr. Mario Draghi, president of the European Central Bank, as well as a number of counterparts from member states, to make progress on this matter. The Taoiseach has also met and discussed this issue with a number of European Council members. Unfortunately, I am not in a position to indicate when the review of options and negotiations will be completed. The Government is aware that payment of the promissory note is due at the end of March 2012. However, given the nature of advocacy and the decision-making process in the EU, I would not expect this matter to be concluded in the short term.

The Government is committed to achieving an outcome that not only serves Ireland's best interests but that is in the best interests of our external partners. It is of the view that the global and European economies and the financial markets will benefit from a speedy return to growth in the Irish economy.

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