Vol. 527 No. 2
62 Mr. Perry asked the Minister for Finance if he has had discussions recently at the IMF or at any other international forum on proposals to reduce or waive Third World debt; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27976/00]
The most recent significant development in this area was my contribution to the recent annual meetings in Prague where I stated that the parameters of the Heavily Indebted Poorer Countries Initiative should be kept under review with a view to appropriate remedial action where the initiative was not achieving its stated aims. Ireland has con tributed to the HIPC Initiative and we want to see it work to full effect.
I also supported the call by the Canadian Governor, with whom we share a constituency, for all bilateral creditors to implement an immediate moratorium on bilateral debt repayments for the eligible HIPC countries, as this would free up resources for heavily indebted countries to spend on urgent social priorities and poverty reduction strategies. On an ongoing basis our representatives in the IMF and the World Bank are pursuing the issue in our Board the Canadian constituency offices, attend board meetings in both institutions and are in regular consultation with their departmental colleagues.
Question No. 63 taken with Question No. 38.
