Eoin Hayes (Dublin Bay South, Social Democrats)
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381. To ask the Minister for Finance the position on a Europe-wide debt warehousing strategy for the debt accrued due to the Covid-19 pandemic; to report on any discussions he has had at Eurogroup level on same; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [61051/25]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I understand that this question refers to a paper published by Social Justice Ireland which suggests the development of a European-wide public debt warehousing strategy to be financed by a 100 year ECB bond. I can inform the Deputy that no discussions in relation to such a strategy have taken place at a European level, in either the Economic and Financial Committee of the Council of the European Union, nor in the Eurogroup. Furthermore, the European Central Bank is prohibited from monetary financing under Article 123 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. This is in place to safeguard the independence of the ECB.

In relation to our domestic situation, Ireland is making good progress towards the reduction of our debt burden, despite the impact of the pandemic, with the debt-to-GNI* ratio projected to fall to 58.6 per cent next year. The Economic and Fiscal Outlook of Budget 2026 projects interest expenditure of c.1 per cent of Ireland’s GNI*. Compared with other European countries, this is a relatively low level of interest expenditure, reflecting the relatively low debt burden.