Ireland may have to fund part of €32bn bank debt

Ireland may receive substantially less from the EU’s rescue fund than the €32bn the country has ploughed into its banks.

While Germany, Finland and the Netherlands do not want to see any EU money going to recapitalise old bank debt, EU officials are trying to find a compromise. One suggestion on the table for months is that any country getting money for its banks past debt from the EU fund would have to shoulder at least some of the burden itself.

The IMF warned last month that Ireland should receive around €24bn in exchange for its bank shares, and not the €8bn that they are currently valued at.