It is important to recognise that in relation to the burden of Greek debt significant concessions have already been granted. In November 2012, for example, the Eurogroup agreed to a lowering by 100 basis points of the interest rate charged to Greece on the loans provided in the context of the Greek Loan Facility. An extension of maturity of the loans by 15 years was also decided.
Currently, there is a moratorium on repayments of principal on the Greek Loan Facility until the early part of the next decade. Moreover, there are no interest or principal repayments due on the Greek EFSF loans until 2023.
I have repeatedly said that I am open to further maturity extensions, longer grace periods, etc. in order to reduce further the burden of Greek debt.
This is what we have done in Ireland. We have restructured our debt - extending the maturities on the EFSF and EFSM loans, replacing the promissory notes with long-term bonds, etc. - in order to reduce the burden of debt.