The Minister for Finance says he has reached an agreement in principle on a deal to extend the maturities on our bank debt by seven years. Michael Noonan was speaking as he arrived at a meeting of EU Finance Ministers in Dublin Castle this morning, as part of the Irish Presidency of the EU.
Eurogroup ministers are meeting first to discuss the proposed deal for Ireland and Portugal which would give us more time to repay the EU portion of our bailout.
Speaking on his arrival at the ECOFIN meeting Finance Minister Michael Noonan said he is reasonably optimistic.
The Informal ECOFIN meeting is taking place against a backdrop of speculation about a possible 7-year extension to the maturities on Irish EU bailout loans.
European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn says he expects support for an extension to our bailout loans.
This 2-day meeting takes place in Dublin Castle.
No decisions will be made at the meeting but it is hoped political agreement can at least be reached on an extension to the amount of time Ireland has to repay the EU portion of its loans.
The Troika has recommended the deal for Ireland and Portugal and it has the support of the head of the Eurozone Finance Ministers Jeron Dijsselbloem. However Germany may demand further concessions from Ireland before any agreement is reached. Chancellor Angela Merkel will be concerned that it could become an election issue for her at home.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny has urged ministers to help Ireland by agreeing the deal and Dijsselbloem has said a deal would smooth Ireland's path back to the markets.
The issue will be discussed this morning when it is likely to get full political agreement at least. This afternoon all 27 EU Finance ministers will meet for a session that will include discussion on the EU banking union and the role of the single supervisory mechanism with the European Central Bank (ECB) at the helm.
Stephen Kinsella is an economist at the University of Limerick.
Innovative
Unusually the meeting this morning is paperless with Ministers being given Dell tablet computers pre-loaded with all the relevent documents. The move is an effort to showcase Ireland as an innovation Island.
Protest
30 members of the Garda Representative Association (GRA) are planning to protest outside the Dublin Castle meeting.
They want to show EU Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors their opposition to the proposed extension to the Croke Park deal.
President of the GRA John Parker is appealing to private sector workers to row in behind them.
