Patrick Nulty
Ceist:18. Deputy Patrick Nulty asked the Minister for Finance when Ireland will receive a write down of its debt burden as indicated by EU leaders following the July 2012 summit. [41267/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraThursday, 4 October 2012
Ceisteanna (18, 19)
Patrick Nulty
Ceist:19. Deputy Patrick Nulty asked the Minister for Finance the steps he is taking to renegotiate the promissory note which the State must pay in relation to Irish Bank Resolution Corporation formerly Anglo Irish Bank. [41266/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraFreagraí scríofa
I propose to take Questions Nos. 18 and 19 together.
As the Deputy is aware, the Irish Government has been working extremely hard to secure a deal on the Irish bank debt and detailed work will continue to ensure that the positive moves in Europe are harnessed to maximise the benefit to the Irish taxpayer. This is on the back of the Euro Area summit statement of 29 June of this year and the on-going work is one of the Government’s key priorities.
On 12 and 13 September I travelled to Paris, Berlin and Rome for meetings with my counterparts in the respective Ministries of Finance. These meetings were part of our on-going consultations with our European colleagues, at all levels, to support broader understanding of the extent to which we are living up to our commitments under the EU-IMF Joint Programme of Assistance, as well as the remaining challenges we face.
A priority item on the agenda in each of these meetings was the issue of the promissory note. I am glad to say that we met with strong appreciation of our situation and we were able to have very constructive dialogue in each case on our approach to this question. At this point it is not possible to guide on the potential timing of any agreed approach but we will be continuing our engagement with the Troika and our partners in the European Union with a view to a satisfactory resolution of this issue and other related questions.