Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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9. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will provide the main points of discussion he or his officials had with the troika on its most recent visit. [45945/14]

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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The Minister welcomed his old friends the troika back to the capital city in recent weeks. Obviously, the troika is still monitoring us and will do so for some time into the future. Members of the Opposition no longer have the opportunity to engage with the troika during its visits, but it is reported that mortgage debt, housing, water, issues in the wider economy and some of the delayed legislation on the reform of legal services and so forth were top of the agenda. Were water charges and the Government's climb-down in that regard discussed in detail with the troika? What other areas were discussed? What type of report, if any, will the troika submit as a result of its visit?

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Following our successful exit from the EU-IMF programme of financial support on 15 December last, we are now subject to EU post-programme surveillance and IMF post-programme monitoring. Twice-yearly review missions are conducted by the European Commission, the ECB and the IMF as part of post-programme monitoring and surveillance.  In this context, the second post-programme review mission took place between 17 and 21 November last.

Post-programme reviews have long been a feature of IMF programmes. In the European context, Regulation No. 472/2013, which is part of what is known as the two-pack, now provides for a similar arrangement for euro area member states in a post-programme situation. This regulation also provides for post-programme surveillance to be conducted by the Commission in liaison with the ECB. This is a different form of monitoring from that which applied during the programme. The objective of post-programme surveillance and monitoring is to assess Ireland's economic, fiscal and financial situation following the completion of the EU-IMF financial assistance programme. The focus of the assessment is on Ireland's ability to repay.

The meetings ranged from technical to policy discussions and were conducted by officials from my Department, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, the Central Bank and the National Treasury Management Agency, along with other relevant Departments and agencies. They covered the key areas of macroeconomic outlook and financial sector developments, with particular reference to the recently concluded European comprehensive assessment, the budgetary outlook, structural reform measures and the proposed early repayment of a portion of our IMF loans.

Following the mission, the IMF, the European Commission and the ECB issued statements setting out their preliminary conclusions. The IMF executive board will consider the final conclusions of the review mission in December, with EU consideration expected in January.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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Did the troika leave on 21 or 30 November? What discussions did the Minister have with the representatives of the Commission, the IMF and the ECB about water charges? Was the new regime that the Government announced, which is unacceptable to the Irish people, discussed with the troika members? Did they raise any concerns about, for example, the water conservation grant that has nothing to do with water conservation? Did the Minister inform the representatives that since the troika left the Government's support has plummeted and the Irish people have taken to the streets to reject some of the proposals the Government is introducing? In particular, what was the troika's position in respect of water, or are the reports wrong and water charges were not discussed? Was the climb-down and change the Government has outlined regarding water charges discussed also?

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Neither I, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, nor any other Minister met with the troika on this occasion. The post-programme surveillance is now conducted by civil servants of the Departments, as I outlined, and members of the troika. I am relating what was discussed at second hand, on the basis of briefing.

I understand the water issue arose and that the troika was briefed by officials on the new situation, but there was no contention about it. I do not know what supplementary questions the troika members asked, if any, but it was a question of briefing rather than an attempt by the troika to advance a policy position from its perspective. The main issues were the macroeconomic situation, growth in the economy, the budgetary position and the earlier repayment of IMF loans. In other words, they were the types of issue one would expect to be raised by people whose primary concern was to assess Ireland's ability to repay not only the IMF loans but also the loans from the European institutions.

Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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I appreciate that the Minister was not in the room, but I expect he was well briefed. We sometimes learn more about these matters from the media than we do in this Chamber. It is suggested that the mortgage crisis is another area that was discussed. Obviously, the Minister has changed his tune on how to deal with those seeking mortgages and restrictions on lending. The Central Bank has intervened very clearly and undermined the efforts of the Government with regard to Construction 2020 with its decision to decrease the maximum loan-to-value ratio for those applying for mortgages to 80%, although it might roll back a little on that. The Minister indicated that measures would be brought forward in the Finance Bill relating to mortgage insurance and that an assessment would be carried out before that Bill was introduced. None of that has happened and, as a result, the Minister has asked the finance committee to deal with the issue. Did this issue arise with the troika? What was the troika's view on the Government's intention of increasing mortgage availability by increasing loan-to-value ratios through a mortgage insurance scheme?

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Central Bank is in charge of the prudential arrangements for lending by the banks, including mortgage lending. It has made announcements for the purpose of consultation and it has allocated a period for that consultation to take place. The 80% ceiling is a controversial announcement and people have different views on it. Different organisations are making submissions, including the Department of Finance. We will provide our submission in the next couple of days.

I do not know whether the troika raised this with the Central Bank. Its members had meetings with the Central Bank and might have raised it. There was a statement from the Commission, separately from the troika visit, saying it supported the actions being taken by the Central Bank so that Ireland would not again encounter the problems it had previously. This is unresolved, but the Central Bank is independent.