Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)

It depends on the availability of funding for the EIB and on the individual projects. I do not think I can give the Senator a figure for a flat rate of interest, as much as I would like to. It is below cost funding and the rate of interest is very competitive. For countries such as Ireland, it is very attractive. Countries in a stronger financial position might in fact be able to access financing at a cheaper rate elsewhere, depending on the domestic situation but for countries in the position that Ireland is in, it would be below cost and very attractive.

We are doing a great deal of preparatory work. The Cabinet committee on European affairs has met on a number of occasions and the key ministries, the Ministers for Transport, Tourism and Sport, and Communications, Energy and Natural Resources have been charged with looking at potential projects. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, is overseeing that and has already done quite a bit of work on it. To respond to Senator Mooney's question on whether we look for the money first and identify the project afterwards, the answer is absolutely "No". That would not work with the European Investment Bank, it makes its decisions on a project-by-project basis. The EIB is a commercial entity and operates in a commercially viable context and therefore it is important that we go with obvious projects that can fit the criteria that have been outlined by the European Investment Bank. It is worth noting that companies such as Bord Gáis, for example, has successfully attracted EIB investment. It is not just a question of the State accessing this money. Banks can access finance from the EIB, as well as semi-State companies. There are a range of opportunities and we are exploring all of them. The key outcomes from the summit tomorrow is that we get agreement on the paid in capital. In principle that was agreed at the ECOFIN Council so it should be agreed by the Heads of State and Government tomorrow. That is our first priority. Our second priority is to ensure that unlike the initial project bonds initiative, which focused very much on transnational major infrastructural projects, which ruled out projects in Ireland because we are a small island country, we must ensure there is flexibility about the types of projects so that smaller countries, such as us, can benefit from the opportunities. That is already acknowledged by the European Investment Bank in the paper I mentioned, which was co-authored by Werner Hoyer andJosé Manuel Barroso and identified specifically the sort of language we have been pushing for. They identify a priority programme country, peripheral countries, small islands and so on. We are very much on their radar and that will make it much easier when we go with our projects to be able to say that as per the Council decision or as per the criteria set out by the European Investment Bank, we are a programme country and we have projects that fit the bill. Therefore, I am very optimistic about our potential.