Noonan insists debt is sustainable

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has insisted that Ireland’s debt is sustainable and that the country won’t default.

In its recent review of Ireland, the IMF warned that the State’s debt was “high and still growing” and that risks to economic recovery “remain large, with profound implications for debt sustainability”.

Responding to questions from Fianna Fáil TD Timmy Dooley yesterday, Mr Noonan said the term sustainability was used “in two senses”.