Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 January 2013
20. Deputy Martin Ferris asked the Minister for Finance the position regarding the €3.1 billion bond to be redeemed with the Bank of Ireland in April 2013, specifically, when the bond will be redeemed and the way it will be treated for accounting purposes on the State's balance sheets [1794/13]
View answerAs the Deputy is aware, the Irish Government bonds acquired by IBRC in settlement of the second instalment due on the IBRC promissory notes have a stated maturity date of 13 March 2025 at which point it is envisaged they will be repaid by the State for cash with the resulting balance sheet impact. These bonds have been used by IBRC as collateral for a securities repurchase transaction with Bank of Ireland. As the Deputy is also aware, this repurchase agreement between Bank of Ireland and IBRC was a commercial transaction, which was approved by Bank of Ireland’s shareholders on 18 June 2012. Essentially Bank of Ireland purchased this Irish Government bonds acquired by IBRC and IBRC has an obligation to repurchase the bonds upon maturity from Bank of Ireland not later than 364 days after the purchase date, which was 20 June 2012.
This maturity and the resulting funding requirement will be considered by IBRC as part of its ongoing funding and liquidity management activities.
