Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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37. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will release the letter of 19 November 2010 from Jean-Claude Trichet; and if this letter will be made available to any banking inquiry. [41520/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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The position remains as I outlined in my replies to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 155 of 28 June 2011, and 125 of 18 July 2013. While the immediate crisis that this Government inherited when it took office has been averted, it remains important for relationships between institutions to be developed and sustained, 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 the correspondence sought 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.

Any request which may be received from the recently announced banking enquiry will be considered taking account of the above considerations and also the terms of reference of the enquiry.