Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 102: To ask the Minister for Finance if the moneys raised from the national solidarity bond are being used to fund current spending since the EU-IMF bailout deal; if he will consider using future moneys raised from the bond to fund a programme of strategic investment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13233/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The National Solidarity Bond is one product in the range of National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) State Savings products offered by the NTMA to personal savers through the post office network. The suite of NTMA State Savings products also includes Savings Certificates, Savings Bonds, Prize Bonds, Instalment Savings and Deposit Accounts such as the Ordinary Deposit Account and the Deposit Account Plus. All NTMA State Savings money is used to fund the Exchequer and forms part of the National Debt.

The purpose of all moneys raised through borrowing by the NTMA (including the NTMA State Savings products and borrowing from the EU/IMF) is to meet the overall gap between total expenditure and total revenue and, as such, borrowing does not relate to any specific expenditure item. As stated in the Programme for Government, we are committed to a radical overhaul of the wider Exchequer capital programme in line with our changed economic and social needs and are examining options for a commercially-financed NewERA strategic investment programme in key networks of the economy. Together with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, I am currently considering how best to progress this matter.