Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 July 2015
111. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Finance if he will propose to his eurozone fellow finance Ministers a full two-year moratorium on Greek debt repayments to enable the Greek Government to re-stabilise the Greek economy; if he will follow up with proposals to park and waive a large portion of this debt for Greece and Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28081/15]
Amharc ar fhreagraIt 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.
