Ireland’s attempts to recover from the collapse of the Celtic Tiger have been handed a ringing endorsement by the International Monetary Fund – along with a check for a whopping $5.5billion.
The IMF has approved the next payment of funds to the Irish government under the $110 billion bail-out package agreed with the European Union.
The pay-out was approved after the IMF’s executive board undertook a fourth review of Ireland’s current economic performance and the government’s handling of the bail-out terms.
The IMF will provide $30 billion in rescue funding over the next three years and has already funded $17billion.
The announcement of the latest funding came after a row broke out between opposition party Fianna Fail and the government over comments made on the current state of the Euro by Finance Minister Michael Noonan.
Noonan had warned that a referendum on tougher rules for euro zone countries would inevitably turn into a vote on whether Ireland should remain in the euro.
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The Fine Gael Minister told the Irish Times that he would prefer if a referendum were ‘not necessary’ as it would be seen by the world as a vote on ‘whether the Irish want to stay part of the single currency’.
Noonan claimed Ireland did not have a problem with the new governance regulations for the euro zone and a fiscal control Bill.
He said: “So my personal wish is that it can be done without constitutional change. But if constitutional change is required then we will have a referendum and we will put the case to the people and it will come down to whether one wants to continue in the euro, or not.
“Because in the nature of referendums, the issue itself might be complex, about new governance rules for the euro, [but] in the practical politics it will be dealt with in shorthand and the shorthand will be, ‘Do you want to maintain Ireland’s position as a euro zone country’.
“I am not even convinced yet that there will have to be a referendum. We haven’t seen drafts yet. But what I am saying is that, in practical politics, if there is a referendum the wider issue of Ireland’s future in the euro zone will become an issue, even though the actual question that will be put to the people will be about the governance rules for the euro.”
Now Fianna Fáil finance spokesman Michael McGrath has accused the minister of ‘irresponsible scaremongering’.
McGrath said: “Michael Noonan’s extraordinary intervention on the question of whether or not there should be a referendum on the new proposed intergovernmental agreement is an insult to Irish people’s intelligence.
“The fact that the Minister’s language mirrors almost exactly the proposition used by France and Germany to scupper recent plans for a referendum in Greece will not be lost on people.”
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.gobdawpaddy | Dec 16, 2011, 02:29 PM EST
Noonan is dead right to call it as it is. I have spent a lot of time in Ireland during this current financial crisis. Initially you had the prime minister and his fellow fianna Fail vegetables blaming Ireland's situation on Layman Brudders. The mutants then picked up on the catchphrase of 'burn the bondholders'. Now it's all Europe's fault and we should 'bring back the punt'. The majority of these 'genius' Irish barstool economists have no clue as to the ramifications of their simplistic 'solutions'. Kenny and Noonan will have to spell it out to them like the ABC, using crayons.
sirpeter | Dec 16, 2011, 11:59 AM EST
No one will lend the country money anymore.The only way that the government can afford to pay social welfare and public sector costs is by borrowing. The only people who are prepared to lend to us are our partners in Europe. The MARKETS have pulled down the shutters to us. When is that reality going to sink into peoples heads? If we left the Euro.How much do ye think the new punt is going to be worth?So does everyone fancy paying treble for all imported goods?Let's put it this way.In Ireland we now pay €7.45 EUROS for a gallon of petrol.Would the people here like to start paying €15 or €20 a gallon of petrol?That would happen in months if not weeks.Inflation would hit the roof.Making all savings worth nothing within two years.The Icelandic króna had declined more than 35% against the euro from January to September 2008.Iceland's 12-month inflation in January 2009 climbed to a record high of 18.6%.A major factor behind the resolution of the financial crisis was the decision by the government of Iceland to apply for membership in the EU in July 2009.That's the deal.Lots and lots of fish.
IrelandNorth | Dec 16, 2011, 07:37 AM EST
Question: What have the Act of Union 1800-'01 and the Nice Lisbon Treaties, I & II got in common. Answer: They both involved the economic and political betrayal of an island nation to colonial powers by a self-serving, highly privileged, land/property political elite to the detriment of the peasantry.
Troops4Paul | Dec 15, 2011, 02:36 PM EST
We have to find a way for all countries to dump the debts of the banks. The "debts" are NOT OURS. Iceland got it right. They voted to let the banks fail and refused to pay for the banks' gambling debts on derivatives. Then they ditched their finance minister and the new one found out the people were right - they DID NOT OWE THE DEBTS. They did discover that 8% of the debts they were trying to extract from the Icelanders did belong to the people, so the people voted to pay just what they actually owed. Now their economy is in the process of recovering.
LoyalCitizen | Dec 15, 2011, 12:20 PM EST
A bunch of traitors selling out to the IMF to help sustain pretentious American Corporations who should never be in Ireland.........Retarded Irish Politicians wasted every penny of the Europeans Funds on American Corporations and refuse to change.........The best traitorous Irish Politicians can do is steal from Social Welfare Recipients.
FastEddy | Dec 15, 2011, 11:55 AM EST
"... a referendum on tougher rules for euro zone countries would inevitably turn into a vote on whether Ireland should remain in the euro. ..." The IMF is no friend of Ireland. "Tougher rules" mean higher taxes by any and all IMF/EU definitions. Go Gold like Icelanders have done or marry the Brit Pound backed by Gold and/or Silver and The Tiger will growl again.