Brendan Griffin (Kerry South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

81. To ask the Minister for Finance the amount he expects the Government to save per annum as a result of paying off the State’s bailout loans early; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [34984/14]

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

I am proposing to make an early repayment of a portion of Ireland's IMF programme loan. Specifically the proposal is to make an early repayment of up to €18 billion of our €22.5 billion IMF loan, which is the portion subject to the highest rate of charge, and to replace it with less expensive market funding subject to prevailing market conditions.

For this to succeed, a waiver of the mandatory proportional early repayment clauses which are included in each of our loan agreements with the EFSF and the EFSM, and with our bilateral lenders, the U.K., Denmark and Sweden is required.

Our request for such a waiver was discussed at the meetings of the Eurogroup and ECOFIN Ministers last weekend. There was broad political support among the Ministers for the proposal. However, this support is subject to necessary national approval procedures including parliamentary approval in some Member States.

Estimates provided by the NTMA show that in a situation where the recent reduction in market yields is maintained it would be possible to achieve savings of the order of €1.5 billion. However, the actual savings that are generated from early repayment will depend on a number of factors such as the size of any repayments, general market conditions and the cost of the replacement market funding.