Peter Mathews (Dublin South, Fine Gael)
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Question 127: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will provide this Deputy with a copy of all letters received by the then Minister, Mr. Brian Lenihan, or his Department of Finance from the President of the ECB during the month of November 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3342/12]

Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent)
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Question 134: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will provide the complete text of any and all letters exchanged between him and the President of the ECB dated 19 November 2010; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3505/12]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 127 and 134 together.

As the Deputies will be aware, the Minister for Finance and the Department of Finance received a number of letters from the ECB during November 2010. Some of these are already in the public domain, and details of those are set out below.

A letter dated 2nd November 2010 concerned the extension of the Irish State guarantee of certain liabilities of credit institutions. This letter is in the public domain and a copy has been forwarded to the Deputy.

A letter dated 18th November 2010 concerned the national implementation of Directive 2009/44/EC of the European Parliament and Council of 6 May 2009 amending Directive 98/26/EC on settlement finality in payment and securities settlement systems and Directive 2002/47/EC on financial collateral arrangements as regards linked systems and credit claims. This letter is in the public domain and a copy has been forwarded to the Deputy.

As I outlined in reply to PQ 17487/11 in June 2011, in relation to other correspondence, during an ongoing crisis, it is important for relationships between institutions to be developed, in order to allow for confidential negotiations to take place, especially on particularly sensitive issues. This is particularly the case in relation to the Irish authorities dealing with the ECB. It is normal practice for states to protect the confidentiality of these discussions, and in fact is usually enshrined in the rules of association of institutions.

Indeed, this is reflected in the Freedom of Information Act, which provides for exemptions for records relating to, for example, information received in confidence, commercially sensitive information and the financial and economic interests of the state in sections 24, 26 and 31. These factors counterbalance the public interest, protecting the ability of the Government when negotiating or deliberating on matters of national importance. It is considered that release of these records would impact on the integrity and viability of the decision-making process to a significant degree without a countervailing benefit to the public, and would prejudice our relationship with the ECB. For this reason, I do not intend to release this information.