Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 84: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will provide a detailed breakdown of the total current level of debt held by the Government at the end of the first quarter of 2011 including details of the debt by lenders including the European Central Bank, EU, International Monetary Fund, Irish Central Bank, senior bondholders, subordinated bondholders, private banking institutions and by purpose of loan, that is, bank recapitalisation, National Asset Management Agency funding, Government current and capital expenditure; and if he will provide a detailed breakdown of the total projected interest on these loans for 2011. [12531/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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National Debt is essentially the debt of the Exchequer and the increase in the level of National Debt from some €75 billion at end-2009 to just over €93 billion at end-2010 was primarily due to the fact that the Exchequer recorded a deficit of €18.7 billion in 2010. Just under €12.6 billion of the Exchequer deficit in 2010 related to the excess of current expenditure over current revenues while the balance was made up by the excess of capital expenditure over capital receipts. The purpose of Government borrowing is to meet the overall gap between total expenditure and total revenue and, as such, borrowing does not relate specifically to any expenditure item.

Ireland's National Debt stood at just under €101 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2011, up from just over €93 billion at the end of 2010. The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) publishes a breakdown of the instruments comprising national debt as at end-March 2011 and end-December 2010 and this is set out in the following table.

As sovereign debt is mainly issued through tradeable instruments, it is often sold on by the original purchaser on the secondary market. As such, there is no means of definitively ascertaining the current holders of outstanding Irish government debt. However, the Central Bank of Ireland estimates that international investors held 821⁄4 per cent of Irish Government bonds at end-2010. Interest costs on the National Debt in 2011 are estimated at €5.2 billion. This estimate is consistent with the budgetary projections contained in the recently published Stability Programme Update.

It should be noted that the National Debt differs from the General Government Debt, which is the standard measure used within the EU for comparative purposes. General Government debt stood at €148 billion or 96 per cent at end-2010. General Government Debt includes the National Debt as well as Local Government debt and some other minor liabilities of Government. As it is a gross measure, it does not allow the netting off of liquid assets, as is the case with the National Debt. In addition, due to fact that the General Government Debt operates on an accruals basis, the €31 billion in Promissory Notes committed to financial institutions in 2010 was added in full to the General Government Debt in that year. The cash payments to these institutions will only take place on a phased basis, beginning in 2011, with the first payment of €3.1 billion at the end of March.

While General Government gross debt at end-2010 stood at €148 billion, net debt was lower. Taking account of the funds held in the discretionary portfolio of the National Pensions Reserve Fund and other liquid assets, General Government net debt is estimated to have stood at approximately €117 billion or 76 per cent of GDP at end-2010.

As regards the outstanding debt of the banking sector, although the borrowings of the six covered institutions are being supported through the various bank guarantees, the debts of these institutions are not included in the calculation of the National Debt or the General Government Debt. The amount of guaranteed liabilities under the Eligible Liabilities Guarantee scheme as at the end of March 2011 was approximately €110 billion.

In terms of Central Bank and ECB lending to these institutions, the Central Bank has disclosed that, at the end of March 2011, borrowings from the ECB for the six covered institutions was €79.2 billion. The Central Bank has also disclosed that the value of the other assets category within its Financial Statement stood at €67 billion at end-March, with the substantial majority of this being comprised of Emergency Liquidity Assistance to the covered institutions.

Finally, as the Deputy is aware, the State's borrowing needs are currently being funded through the Joint EU/IMF Programme of Financial Support. By the end of March of this year, approximately €12 billion had been drawn down from the European funding facilities – the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) and the European Financial Stability Mechanism (EFSM) – while a further €5.8 billion had been drawn down from the IMF. Instruments Comprising the Debt as at 31 March 2011