Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Question 85: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will provide the names and addresses of each person or association acting on their own behalf and or on the behalf of clients and the amounts involved in each case who took up or bought Irish Government Bonds during the last issue of bonds on behalf of Ireland by the National Treasury Management Agency or any other agency on behalf of Ireland; the methods by which these were paid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8813/11]

Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Question 86: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will provide names and addresses of each person or association acting on their own behalf and or on the behalf of clients and the amounts involved in each from whom the Government purchased or redeemed bonds during the last issue of bonds on behalf of Ireland by the National Treasury Management Agency or any other agency on behalf of Ireland; the methods by which these were paid; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [8814/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 85 and 86 together.

I am informed by the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), which is responsible for borrowing on behalf of the Government and the management of the National Debt, that the most recent issuance of Irish Government bonds by the Agency took place by auction in September 2010. This completed a programme of bond funding by the NTMA which raised €20bn for the calendar year to meet the Exchequer's requirements.

Bond auctions are conducted electronically on the Bloomberg Auction System and are confined to the Primary Dealers in Irish Government bonds, who are recognised by the NTMA and are members of and regulated by the Irish Stock Exchange. They are:

Barclays, London

BNP Paribas, London

Citigroup, London

Credit Agricole CIB, Paris

Danske Bank, Copenhagen

Davy, Dublin

Deutsche Bank, Frankfurt

Goldman Sachs, London

HSBC CCF, Paris

ING Bank NV, Amsterdam

JP Morgan, London

Bank of America Merrill Lynch, London

Nomura International plc, London

Royal Bank of Scotland, London

Société Générale, Paris.

Primary Dealers are obliged to maintain a market in Irish Government bonds and are granted exclusive access to primary bond issuance. They buy bonds when they are issued both to satisfy client demand and to maintain market positions on their own books. Bonds are bought and sold on a delivery-versus-payment basis, whereby secure electronic payments and title transfer are made contemporaneously.

The vast majority of bonds are held by institutional investors in the Euroclear clearing and settlement system, generally in a nominee account structure, which does not permit the identification of the beneficial owners. This is standard market practice in the sovereign bond markets. The composition of holders of Irish Government bonds can, as with any liquid asset market, change quite quickly as market circumstances change. In the case of bond redemptions, the payments are made via Euroclear to the holders of the bonds.

The Central Bank of Ireland maintains a register of Irish Government bonds. The bonds held by Euroclear, representing 99.74% of Irish Government bonds in issue, are registered in one omnibus account in the Central Bank's register but details of the bond transactions relating to those bonds are held by Euroclear. All transactions in relation to the remaining 0.26% of Irish Government bonds are made through the Central Bank and information regarding individual holders is treated as confidential.