1% reduction on bailout rate already agreed, says Noonan

The issue of the interest rate on Ireland's bailout will not feature on the agenda at the EU summit taking place tomorrow and Friday.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan told the Dáil today that a 1% cut in the interest rate has effectively been agreed and it is now just a case of waiting a "few weeks" for it to be applied.

"It’s actually agreed by the 27 [EU member states] that there'll be a 1% reduction, and then we have the interventions of what quid pro quo Ireland will give, but there’s actually no quid pro quo written into the communiqué," said Minister Noonan.