Honohan: Not surprising bank-debt talks are 'two steps forward, one step back'

The Governor of the Central Bank has said it is not surprising that negotiations on a deal on the Irish banking debt have taken "two steps forward and one step back".

Patrick Honohan's comments came after the German, Dutch and Finnish finance ministers issued a statement earlier this week, saying that the ESM should not apply to "legacy debt".

Speaking at a Corporate Restructuring Conference in Dublin today, Patrick Honohan said the development is unsurprising, but that talks on the matter will continue.

"I tend not to react to headlines that some minister or government has said somewhere," he said. "It's a process that's continuing - let's see what happens."