Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 43: To ask the Minister for Finance the value of senior bond debt in each of the banking institutions covered by the State guarantee; if he has any information regarding the value of senior bond debt within these institutions which is held by Irish Credit Unions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8075/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that on 1 April 2011, the Central Bank of Ireland published the total senior and subordinated debt issuances by those banks covered by the Bank Guarantee, as at March 2011. This information is available on the Central Bank's website at www.centralbank.ie. The Central Bank published the individual figures on a once-off basis and were disclosed with the consent of the financial institutions and does not form part of any Central Bank statistical series. Although the Central Bank does not normally publish this information, the Central Bank has advised me that as at 1 April 2011, the total aggregate senior debt, guaranteed and unguaranteed, for the covered institutions is €56,644m, made up of €20,643m senior guaranteed, €19,944m senior unguaranteed secured, and €16,057m senior unguaranteed unsecured debt.

The financial institutions do not have comprehensive information on the holders of their senior, junior, or subordinated debt because such debt is publicly traded and dealt through clearing house systems. The covered institutions do not have access to the records of those systems and have no means of establishing the underlying ownership of its bonds at any given time. Unlike the case of shares, the holders of credit institutions' senior and subordinated debt instruments are not subject to a disclosure regime.