Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
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223. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will report on the negotiations regarding the third memorandum for Greece held on 11 and 12 July 2015 in Brussels in Belgium, and if he will make a statement on the result of these negotiations. [30303/15]

Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Socialist Party)
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227. To ask the Minister for Finance if he will report on his discussions with his European Union counterparts from 11 to13 July 2015 regarding the Greek financial situation. [30378/15]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 223 and 227 together.

Following a request by the Greek authorities for financial assistance from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), meetings of euro area Finance Ministers (the Eurogroup) and Heads of State or Government (the HoSG) of the euro area Member States (Euro Summit) were held over the past weekend. The HoSG agreed in principle that they are ready to start negotiations on an ESM financial assistance programme for Greece. The Euro Summit statement details the conditions and next steps that must be taken before negotiations can formally begin.

It is important to note that Monday's agreement is not a deal, it only sets out the modalities for the conduct of negotiations with a view to reaching agreement.  In particular, given the need for the Greek authorities to rebuild trust, a pre-requisite for a possible ESM programme, the Greek authorities committed to legislate a first set of measures by 15^thJuly and a second set of measures by 22^ndJuly. Only after the legal implementation of the first set of agreed measures as well as endorsement by the Greek Parliament, verified by the Institutions and the Eurogroup, may a decision to mandate the Institutions to negotiate a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) be taken.

Yesterday (15th July) the Greek Parliament adopted all of the commitments specified in the Euro Statement, and this is to be welcomed. The Eurogroup has, accordingly, decided to grant in principle a 3-year ESM programme to Greece, subject to the completion of relevant national procedures.