Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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102. To ask the Minister for Finance if the National Treasury Management Agency plans to publish a debt issuance strategy; if this is a requirement for Ireland to be eligible for outright monetary transactions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23503/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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Over the course of 2012 and to date in 2013 the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) has been actively engaged with the bond and treasury bill markets. In January 2013 the NTMA sold €2.5 billion of the existing bond maturing in 2017 at a yield of 3.32%, the first such syndicated deal for three years. In March 2013 the NTMA sold €5 billion of a new 10 year bond, maturing in 2023, at a yield of 4.15%. These two bond sales alone account for over three quarters of the NTMA’s working plan to issue €10 billion in long-term debt during 2013. In parallel, the NTMA has continued with a regular schedule of treasury bill auctions in 2013 and saw the annualised yield demanded by investors for the three month maturity fall to 0.195% in April.

The NTMA has indicated to investors and the market generally that it will continue with regular treasury bill auctions this year and, in that regard, it has already set out its specific plans for Quarter 2 of 2013. The NTMA has also engaged with the market in relation to a return to regular bond auctions during 2013 subject to market conditions, with the specific details to be announced at a later date.

The new legislation on economic governance of the euro area, the so-called Two Pack, is expected to come into force on 30 May 2013. Under this legislation the State is required to provide quarterly and annual estimates of its debt issuance to the EU Commission but only after it is no longer in a macroeconomic adjustment programme.

The Governing Council of the ECB made a decision to establish the Outright Monetary Transaction (OMT) scheme on 2nd August 2012, and issued a press statement on 6th September 2012 which outlined its technical features. This press statement sets out that a necessary condition for OMT is strict and effective conditionality attached to an appropriate European Financial Stability Facility/European Stability Mechanism (EFSF/ESM) programme. Such programmes can take the form of a full EFSF/ESM macroeconomic adjustment programme or a precautionary programme (Enhanced Conditions Credit Line), provided that they include the possibility of EFSF/ESM primary market purchases. The ECB has also stated that OMT may also be considered for Member States currently under a macroeconomic adjustment programme “when they will be regaining bond market access”. The ECB press statement also notes that the ECB’s Governing Council will decide on the start, continuation and suspension of OMT, following a thorough assessment, in full discretion and acting in accordance with its monetary policy mandate. The decision on whether to grant OMT or otherwise in any particular case is therefore a matter for the ECB.