Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)

I tabled this question following from the presentations made to the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, to ascertain the schedule of repayment of the promissory note which takes us right up to 2031. Because of the way the Government has booked the interest on that promissory note, which was at the market value at that time, Irish Bank Resolution Corporation does not need that total sum of €47 billion to clear all of its liabilities and the actual sum is probably much less, in the region of €37 billion. The argument being put forward is that the State, even if it was to get no change in terms of the promissory note, would not be still paying the promissory note post-2022 or - allowing for variances on impairments, and so on - 2023, but that the amount of capital that Irish Bank Resolution Corporation needs is in the region of €37 billion, not the €47 billion to pay all of the bank's liabilities. Hypothetically, if the Minister was able to sign a cheque today for €37 billion to Irish Bank Resolution Corporation, and it could sell its other assets to clear some of its other liabilities, we could wind the bank up with nearly immediate effect, and that is the point to which I am trying to get.

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