Anglo payout was difficult: Rabbitte

MINISTER for communications Pat Rabbitte has said the Government found it “excruciatingly difficult” to agree to pay €700 million to Anglo’s bondholders.

“It was an excruciatingly difficult decision for the Government to have to comply with,” he said. “But the fact of the matter is that it was a requirement of the European Central Bank (ECB).

“The minister for finance did his best to get out from under that, to explain the changing circumstances, that it is a bank no longer trading and so on, but the ECB were trenchant and remember the ECB is providing the blood transfusion that is maintaining the economy.”