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Breaking stories
Spain’s bailout ‘not on better terms’
The Government has insisted Spain did not get a better bailout deal than Ireland under the weekend deal to lend it €100bn from EU funds to rescue its banks.
By Mary Regan, Political Correspondent
In the wake of the agreement, junior finance minister Brian Hayes warned that an EU-wide banking solution allowing its funds to directly re-capitalise banks “may or may not” happen. The Government had hoped any deal to directly inject cash into the Spanish banks could be applied retrospectively to Ireland.
Instead, the EU has agreed to provide the Spanish state with the funds from the European Stability Mechanism to inject into its banks, meaning the bailout is underwritten by the sovereign instead of being provided directly to banks.
Fianna Fáil’s spokesman on finance, Michael McGrath, said the deal was “very disappointing” because “it reinforces the principle in the eurozone that the taxpayers have to take on the losses in the banking system”.
But he said it gives Ireland an opportunity to forge an alliance with Spain to secure a better euro-wide deal on bank debt and “get the issue of a fair distribution of banking losses onto the agenda at future EU council meetings”.
Mr Hayes said it remains the Government’s view that an EU-wide solution is needed “where banks can be recapitalised through emergency funding, without the debt then going on the national debt of the respective countries”.
He added: “That may or may not become a solution in the future, we’ll have to see.”
The opposition said the Government must step up its efforts to get a better deal on the bank debt being burdened by Irish taxpayers.
Mr Hayes said there was “unfinished work” and the Government will continue to pursue a deal to re-engineer the promissory note structure of the Anglo bailout.
Full details of the Spanish rescue are yet to be agreed but because the funds are confined to re-capitalisation of banks, Spain will escape some of the economic conditions attached to Ireland’s deal and will not be subject to the same monitoring from the troika.
Mr McGrath said: “We’re going to have to wait and see the full terms and conditions attached to it. But on the face of it, it does bring into question why Ireland was forced into a full bailout when our problems were very much driven by the banking collapse.”
Sinn Féin said the deal shows there is one set of conditions for Spain, and another for Ireland.
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