Noonan coy on claim ECB wants bondholders to pay

Finance Minister Micheal Noonan has downplayed suggestions senior bondholders in bailed out banks could be forced to take major losses.

Opposition parties have demanded the Government takes firmer steps to try and push the matter after the Wall Street Journal reported that ECB president Mario Draghi called for such measures against Spanish investors at last week’s meeting of eurozone finance ministers.

Such a shift in attitude would mark a major policy U-turn by the ECB after they blocked attempts to impose financial penalties on senior bank bondholders in Ireland.