Noonan defends €1.2bn payment to new EU bailout fund

Michael Noonan has defended Ireland’s decision to contribute €1.27bn to the EU’s permanent bailout fund even though the country is living on borrowed money.

The finance minister said paying into the European Stability Mechanism would ensure Ireland had a “negotiating position” on how the fund was used.

The ESM will be introduced next month as the permanent successor to the temporary bailout fund, the EFSF, from which some of Ireland’s bailout loans are being drawn.