After bailout exit, Ireland plans its next steps

Having exited the bailout programme on Dec 15, the question now is whether the economy can make a sustained return to market funding over the medium to long term.

The obvious aim is for the NTMA to be able to issue sovereign debt at regular intervals at an interest rate that makes the debt position sustainable.

To this end, the external developments — particularly across the eurozone — are just as important as what happens to the domestic economy.