Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 July 2015
110. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Finance if given the continuing threat to the stability of the eurozone he will join with the other 19 eurozone finance Ministers to organise a debt conference to address the huge debt and interest payments hanging over eurozone states, such as Ireland, Portugal and Greece; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28080/15]
View answerAs I have outlined previously, there are no plans to organise a Debt Conference.
Issues related to public debt in the euro area Member States are dealt with in the context of the Eurogroup - the Finance Ministers of the democratically-elected Governments of the euro area Member States. The Heads of State or Government of the euro area Member States can also have a role.
The Irish Government has succeeded in reducing the burden of public debt, in cooperation with our European partners, with the extension of maturities on our EFSF and EFSM loans, the reduction of interest rates, the replacement of the promissory notes with long-term bonds and the replacement of IMF loans with cheaper market-based funding. The Portuguese Government has also succeeded in reducing the burden of its debt.
The Eurogroup has also been proactive in reducing the burden of Greek debt and, as I have said repeatedly, I am open to further maturity extensions, longer grace periods, etc. in order to reduce the burden further. However, I am also strongly of the view that Greece must reform its economy, improve its competitiveness and address structural weaknesses such as weak tax compliance.
Finally, I want to stress that as a union we are in a much stronger place than during the sovereign debt crisis in the early years of this decade. Financial market developments in the euro area (outside of Greece) have been relatively calm in recent days, suggesting that the firewalls created and the governance changes made during the crisis are having the desired effect.
