Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Question 110: To ask the Minister for Finance further to Questions Nos. 92, 103 and 116 of 28 April 2010, if the interim deficit reduction targets for 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 still apply; if they will be changed as a result of the EUROSTAT decision; if he expects they will make a similar determination regarding the money he plans to give to Anglo Irish Bank in 2010 and 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18727/10]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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As you are aware, the decision to reclassify the injection of €4 billion into Anglo Irish Bank has resulted in the General Government Deficit being re-calculated to be 14.3% of GDP. The underlying General Government Balance excluding this reclassification is 11.8% of GDP, which is broadly in line with the Budget day estimate. This decision was taken by the Irish authorities and communicated to Eurostat in the course of the transmission of statistical data at the end March 2010, and subsequently published by Eurostat as part of its notification of deficit and debt data for Member States for 2009.

The reclassification of the €4 billion to Anglo in 2009 is a once-off adjustment that only impacts on the 2009 General Government Deficit and does not affect the Budget day forecast for a General Government Deficit of around 11 1⁄2 % of GDP for 2010, nor does it affect the forecast deficit targets for subsequent years. In that context, Ireland's fiscal targets for the future years have not changed in light of these statistical returns.

The issuance of promissory notes to Anglo Irish Bank and the Irish Nationwide Building Society has been made to ensure that both institutions continue to meet their regulatory capital requirements. It is envisaged that the first payment of monies to either of these institutions will be in 2011, and further payments will then be made on a phased basis over the next 10 to 15 years. The issuance of these promissory notes has impacted fully on the General Government Debt in 2010. These recapitalisations have been made pending the agreement of the respective restructuring plans with the EU commission. Until these restructuring plans have been agreed, and the impact, if any, on the General Government Deficit is fully examined it is not appropriate to include these in any measure of the General Government Deficit. As such, they have been classified as financial transactions, and this decision can be reviewed when further information is available at a later stage.