Irish bank debt deal in doubt

The prospect of a future deal to refinance billions of euro in Irish bank debt is in doubt this morning, after fresh concerns were raised by Germany, The Netherlands and Finland.

After meeting in Helsinki yesterday the German, Dutch and Finnish finance ministers issued a joint statement saying that Europe's bailout fund should only be used to deal with current difficulties, and would not apply to "legacy assets".

The statement is taken as a reference to Anglo Irish Bank, which is being wound down under Ireland's €64bn bank bailout programme.

After an EU summit in June, the Irish Government believed it had an understanding with member states that the new permanent bailout fund, which is expected to be used to help Spain and Italy, would also fund part of the Irish bank bailout.

However, last night's statement from the Germans, the Dutch and the Finns throws fresh doubt on the agreement.