Noonan ‘won’t take much notice’ of debt statement

Finance Minister Michael Noonan said he “won’t take a lot of notice” of a statement by his German, Dutch, and Finnish counterparts earlier this week which cast doubt over plans to ease bank debt.

Their statement — that only debt incurred in the future should be eligible for cheap loans from the ESM, Europe’s permanent rescue fund — was dismissed by Mr Noonan as the “bits and bobs” involved in negotiations at EU level.

He made the comments when he went off-script during a speech to the Construction Industry Federation at its annual conference in Dublin’s Aviva stadium.