Noonan: NTMA believes no vote would exclude us from bond markets

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has said the National Treasury Management Agency has told him Ireland will not be able to return to international borrowing markets if we reject the Fiscal Treaty.

Michael Noonan told the Dáil it was not clear from where we could access money if the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) were not available to Ireland.

Minister Noonan said the NTMA had independently advised him on what might happen if we vote no.

"The IMF has indicated that it will provide funding to Ireland only as part of a European initiative," he said.

"The NTMA considers that a no vote in the referendum…would mean in all likelihood that it would not be possible for Ireland to re-enter the bond markets at sustainable rates."