Charles Flanagan
Question:22 Mr. Flanagan asked the Minister for Finance his views on the highly indebted poor countries debt initiative following the recent annual general meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. [19545/97]
Written Answers. - Third World Debt Relief.
As I indicated in my speech at the annual meetings of the IMF/World Bank, the Govenment believes that the Bank and the Fund are to be congratulated on the progress that has been made on the implementation of the HIPC Initiative. We very much welcome that decisions have been made on Uganda, Bolivia and Burkina Faso and that preliminary consideration of a group of other countries is well under way. This is no mean achievement, given the complexity of the problems affecting the indebted countries and the number of diversity of the players who are party to each decision.
We also welcome the flexibility with which the initiative is being implemented. It is important that this flexibility be used to ensure that the maximum number of eligible countries benefit from the initiative, and as early as possible.
I am particularly concerned that the initiative must offer a real exit from excessive debt to the countries concerned and allow them to regenerate their capacity for economic and social development.
In short, Ireland's position is informed by a number of key principles as follows: the number of beneficiary countries should be maximised; the level of debt relief to be delivered should be as generous as possible in each case: expeditious decision-making and implementation should drive the process; flexibility and pragmatism should inform each decision; and the level of debt relief provided should offer a real exit from the burden of debt.
I will continue to emphasise these considerations in my dealings with the IMF and World Bank in connection with the debt issue.