Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)

I thank the Minister of State for his response. I am sure he is well aware that last week three expert economists - Professor Karl Whelan, Professor Brian Lucey, and Dr. Stephen Kinsella - appeared before the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform and made presentations on the promissory note issue. It would be fair to say that all three of them stated that what really needs to be dealt with is the capital of €31 billion. There was concern that the Government is focusing on either extending the maturities or obtaining a reduction in the interest rate, which, as Professor Whelan said in his presentation, is irrelevant in the long run because it will go back to the Central Bank and then it will go back to the State.

I heard what the Minister of State said about considering maturities, interest rates and so on. Is the capital part of that? I am not looking for any State secrets to be given away, but is the Irish State, as part of these discussions, seeking a write-down on the capital that is to be injected into Anglo Irish Bank? I know the Minister of State cannot say when the paper will be produced, but does he expect that it will not be produced before the payment on 31 March?

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