Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 45: To ask the Minister for Finance if he shares the views of the three prominent economists (details supplied), who recently gave evidence before the finance committee, that the Government should not pay out the €3.1 billion due on the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation promissory note on 31 March 2012, but should seek a means to either write down or defer this obligation, and that the Central Bank has the means to do this without breaking the troika agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [9938/12]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

I very much welcome the constructive contribution from the economists to the question of the promissory notes, and I can assure the Deputy that the presentations and remarks to the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform will be examined in detail. However, it would not at all be appropriate for me to unilaterally instruct the Central Bank, and the Troika that the scheduled payment will not be made, at a time when we are engaged in a process to review options in relation to the reduction in the overall burden to the State of restructuring our banking sector in terms of either or both the cost and the timing of the repayment of that debt.

Further, I am not convinced that in the event that it may be deemed advisable to make the Promissory Note payment due under the current schedule in March that it will weaken or position in the on-going review. It is simply not my experience, or the experience of the Government, that is the way things work within the European Union or the Eurozone. I would remind the Deputy that our external partners are engaging in these discussions notwithstanding that a payment of €3.06bn has already been made in March 2011.

The technical group, involving the Troika representatives, will look at a range of options for reengineering the Promissory Note and the funding of IBRC and the Deputy will appreciate the necessity and appropriateness of waiting on the outcome of that process. While it would certainly be beneficial to have the matter of the Promissory Note payments resolved and agreed by the end of March there is no guarantee that this will be achieved in that timeframe. The Deputy will appreciate that there are a number of parties involved directly and indirectly in this process. The Deputy will also appreciate the situation in the Eurozone remains unsettled and is changing on a daily basis. In this environment and given the nature of advocacy and the decision making process in the EU I would not expect this matter to be concluded quickly. However, I can assure the Deputy that everything that can be done will be done to ensure a positive outcome for the State.