Pearse Doherty (Donegal South West, Sinn Fein)
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Question 106: To ask the Minister for Finance the date on which he established a group to examine the issue of the Anglo Irish Bank promissory note; the membership of this group; the terms of reference of this group; if this group has reported back to him; and if so, if he will detail the contents of that report; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34062/11]

Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 146: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will provide details of all meetings, including dates and a list of the attendees, that have been held so far between him and/or officials with the European authorities on the renegotiation of the Anglo Irish Bank, Irish Nationwide Building Society and EBS promissory note arrangement; the progress made so far and the current status of the negotiations; the basis of his calculation that Ireland is seeking a reduction in its debt of €15 billion to €20 billion; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34598/11]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 106 and 146 together.

As the Deputy is aware the matter of the Promissory Note is managed on an ongoing basis within my Department. The section assigned the role is staffed with the appropriate expertise and experience. The section has the facility to draw on the full range of internal and external expertise as required. The relevant section in my Department has been assigned responsibility to progress this matter.

As indicated I am eager to have the promissory notes examined to see if they can be reconstituted or re-engineered in a better way for the State, for example, by lengthening their maturity or reducing the interest rates on them, or both. I raised this issue during discussions with the EU Commission, ECB and the IMF at the last quarterly review in October. Since then technical discussions are underway between my officials and officials from the ECB and EU Commission in regard to the promissory notes. As yet there is no indication of a successful outcome.