Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

Payments from the European financial stability facility, EFSF, will continue to be honoured up to that point. The European Stability Mechanism, the permanent emergency fund for the euro, will come into effect once 90% of the capital has been provided for it. It is due to come into effect in July 2012. After the end of our programme, the only emergency funding available to the country will be from the ESM. The EFSF will not take new applications for funding. For us to have access to the ESM we are required to ratify the treaty because the ESM will only be available to states that ratify the treaty.

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