Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent)
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89. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will release all materials in the possession of his Department and the Central Bank of Ireland which reference payments/redemptions made by the Irish Government, or Irish banks, from September 2008 onwards, to holders of senior bonds which were issued by covered Irish banks before the State guarantee, that is, payments of senior debt issued prior to Sept ember 2008, redeemed after September 2008 and reference the European Central Bank for example correspondence to or from the ECB on the matter of paying senior unguaranteed bondholders; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20669/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that my Department has already provided details of bonds held and redeemed by the covered institutions. The responses to PQ numbers 38256/12, 36107/12, 19595/12, 7451/12, 5160/12, 4207/12, 34441/11, provide a comprehensive list of the bonds, value date, maturity date etc. on an institution by institution basis for specific dates as well as the position in relation to the identity of bondholders. A response to PQ number 19875/13 sets out the position in relation to outstanding debt at the time of the IBRC liquidation indicates the treatment of such debt in the liquidation process. I will forward copies of the response for the Deputy's convenience.

The Deputy will also be aware that there were discussions with our external partners on the issue of payment to bondholders. I have advised the House on a number of occasions that our European partners expressed strong reservations about burden sharing with senior bondholders and the rationale for this position. I have also advised the House that the position is that there is no private sector involvement for senior bank paper or Irish Sovereign debt without the agreement of our external partners. This commitment has been agreed with our external partners and is now the basis on which Ireland’s future financing strategy is built. Finally, in this vein and in the time constraints of the PQ process, no correspondence to or from the ECB has been identified that relates specifically to paying senior unguaranteed bondholders.

The Deputy will appreciate that it is not possible to retrieve and assess all relevant materials in the possession of my Department in the timeframe provided by the Parliamentary Question (PQ). However, if further information is required the Deputy could write directly to me or my Department detailing his requirements and the matter will be considered.