MONEY INJECTED into Irish banks “should be lifted off the shoulders of the State”, Fianna Fáil finance spokesman Michael McGrath TD has said.
Sinn Féin’s Mary Lou McDonald said Minister for Finance Michael Noonan should be looking for a debt write-down rather than “an extension of time and a lower interest rate”.
Commenting on Mr Noonan’s participation in talks in Nicosia with his euro zone counterparts, Mr McGrath said: “While it is gratifying to see Ireland being praised for the country’s adherence to the agreement with the troika, the real test of the support for Ireland from our European colleagues will come in the final shape of the deal on bank debt.”
The Fianna Fáil spokesman added: “It is absolutely critical that we maximise the benefit to Ireland from this deal, as the conditions will never be as good for our historic banking debt to be revisited.
“It will not be sufficient to tinker around the edges of the bank debt. We need to see a large portion of the money injected into Irish banks lifted off the shoulders of the State.
“This can be done by way of direct capital injections by the ESM and a complete reappraisal of the promissory note arrangement,” Mr McGrath said.
Ms McDonald said: “Any reduction in Ireland’s debt would be a welcome development and Sinn Féin wishes the Minister well in his endeavours.
“But the problem is that the Minister is not looking for a debt write-down and instead is simply looking for an extension of time and a lower interest rate.
“Even if Minister Noonan is successful, Ireland’s debt problem will not go away. He should be seeking a write-down of Ireland’s toxic debt and the Anglo promissory notes would be a good place to start,” the Sinn Féin vice-president said.
Socialist Party MEP Paul Murphy said Mr Noonan was “attempting to make a virtue out of the reality that there appears to be a snowball’s chance in hell of a deal on the bank debt by the end of October”.
“Despite all the attempts to suggest the contrary, Ireland’s bank debt is clearly not at the top of the agenda of the finance ministers in Europe. It is clearly behind Spain,” Mr Murphy said.
“There is not much question that, at the end of all this process, we will still be left with an unsustainable level of debt.
“We will have to do what we should have done at the start – repudiate the debt.”
