Coalition will discuss debt deal with troika

IRELAND’S bid to get a better deal on its bank bailout debts will be raised with the EU/IMF/ECB troika that rules on Irish financial policy.

The three-man team is back in Dublin to effectively inspect the Department of Finance’s books and ensure that the Coalition is keeping its side of the deal to ensure that emergency loans continue to flow into the country to keep essential services going.

The 10-day visit occurs every three months as the troika checks on Irish economic and fiscal management after the Fianna Fáil-Green government handed over large swathes of economic sovereignty to the EU, IMF and ECB in the November 2010 financial crisis.

The troika will also continue its push for Ireland to sell off large parts of its semi-state assets as laid out in the blueprint document between Dublin and the EU and IMF.

However, no definitive outcome on the talks over what to sell will be concluded on this visit as it is a “medium-term” objective, according to a Finance Department spokesman.

The troika will meet with the Taoiseach, Finance Minister Michael Noonan, and other interested bodies such as trade unions and NAMA as part of their trawl through Ireland’s public financial position.

Enda Kenny has made it a priority of the Government to secure lower interest rates and a longer pay-back period for the €63bn borrowed by the state to bail out the banking sector.

The Croke Park deal and the Irish tax system are also expected to loom large in discussions.

Mr Kenny insists that Ireland deserves a better deal as that move helped stave-off “contagion” to the rest of the European banking system, which would have occurred if this country’s financial sector had been allowed to collapse.

The troika will also be examining how the country has coped with the demands they placed on it over the first full year of the emergency loan package.