Austerity measures outlined before troika involvement in bailout

Ireland’s austerity programme was based on measures the national authorities had outlined beforehand to bring the country’s finances back under control, Finance Minister Michael Noonan has told the European Parliament that is investigating the role of the troika.

The Irish Central Bank, responding to questions from Parliament, came closest to criticising the terms of the bailout saying that some of the troika’s conditions on restructuring the financial sector were non-negotiable and had to be implemented very carefully to avoid being counterproductive.

Mr Noonan in a written reply to questions from the Parliament said that the programme reflected the previous government’s National Recovery Plan published shortly before Ireland applied for a bailout. This set out “the macroeconomic, structural reform and fiscal policies to address the crisis”.