Vol. 462 No. 7
66 Mr. R. Burke asked the Minister for Finance if he will give consideration to the proposal that the Government use its influence during the EU Presidency in 1996 to demand that the huge foreign debts of the world's poorest countries be either cancelled or reduced; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5333/96]
It is my intention to continue during the forthcoming Irish Presidency of the European Union to support efforts to alleviate the debt burden on the severely-indebted low-income countries.
The Deputy will appreciate that the issue of debt reduction is a complex one and not possible to answer simply. Third World debt is owed not only to multilateral organisations like the World Bank, but also bilaterally to individual creditor countries and to commercial financial institutions.
It is as a member of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund that Ireland is in a position to exert influence towards easing the debt burden of poor countries. As Ireland's representative on the board of governors of both organisations, I have used their annual meetings to call on them to press ahead with work on ways to ease the multilateral debt-service obligations of the countries experiencing the greatest difficulties.
The Deputy may be assured that I will take advantage of Ireland's forthcoming Presidency of the European Union in order to highlight the debt problem of the poorest countries and to seek mobilise commitment from our EU partners and the multilateral institutions to alleviating that burden on optimal terms.
