NEW YORK BOSTON |#Popular: Irish Celebrity Gossip Irish Pubs Irish Festivals Irish Roots Irish Entertainment Offbeat Irish

Home Page > News > Irish government wants new debt deal in return for referendum support

Irish government wants new debt deal in return for referendum support

Junior Minister Hayes warns EU on budgetary reform

CATHAL DERVAN,

IrishCentral Staff Writer

Published Monday, December 19, 2011, 7:41 AM

Updated Monday, December 19, 2011, 10:17 AM

Larger Text

E-mail

9 Comments

Junior Minister Brian Hayes

Photo by Google Images

The Irish government will offer European Union leaders a deal on sovereign debt in return for support in a referendum on budgetary reform within the Eurozone.

Junior Minister Brian Hayes has publicly admitted that a Yes vote in the proposed referendum could be achieved if the EU can cut a deal to reduce the interest charged on Ireland’s bail-out.

“It will be difficult for a referendum to be passed on the new EU budget plans if a better deal on our debt burden isn't struck,” admitted Minister of State at the Department of Finance Hayes.

“In the context of such a vote, it is important that the EU authorities cut Ireland a better deal which would see repayments on some debt stretched out over a longer period of time with a lower interest rate.

“An additional deal, which would help reduce the country's onerous debt burden, would have to be put in place if a referendum is to take place.”

----------------

Elderly priest refuses to leave parochial house after abuse allegations

Irish and Catholic groups protest nomination of cartoonist into Hall of Fame

----------------

Media outlets in Dublin have reported that the Coalition government will look to swap support for an interest rate reduction as the EU needs Ireland to recover quickly from the collapse of the Celtic Tiger economy.

The Cabinet is to discuss draft plans for tough new budgetary rules for members of the Euro at its last meeting before Christmas on Tuesday with many pundits predicting that a referendum will be needed to bring in the strict budget deficit law across Europe.

Ireland’s Finance Minister Michael Noonan is to participate in a conference call with Eurozone finance ministers when the deal is expected to be discussed.

Government sources have already warned the EU that it would be difficult to pass a referendum without the ‘sweetener’ of a debt repayment agreement.

A fortnight ago, Prime Minister Enda Kenny demanded a deal on reducing Ireland’s banking debt as part of an agreement on tough new rules for euro membership.

“It is in Europe’s interest to help Ireland recover, emerge from the bailout and return to the international markets,” said a government spokesman.

“At the European summit, the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) asked colleagues for support in making the burden taken on as a result of the steps we have taken to recapitalise our banks more manageable. That continues to be the Government position.

“It will take some time before the Attorney General can make conclusions regarding a referendum.”

Nster.com

E-mail

9 Comments

See all comments

esatdigiwank | Dec 29, 2011, 10:51 AM EST

This is old hat dressed up as new. The interest rate cut is none other than the cut which was arrived at last June, but has not been realised yet! The cut that the Govt claims it obtained through negotiation when in actual fact it was the Greeks and Portuguese who clamoured for a cut..Still we are paying off losses to save the Ger and Fr taxpayers indefinitely. Bring on the Referendum!

Report abuse

IrelandNorth | Dec 21, 2011, 08:12 AM EST

Having subcontracted sovereignty to EU for a fistfull of Euros, another Tweedledum/Tweedledee Irish government want the international loansharkes (IMF/ECB) to cut their extortionate lending rates. None of this is what it said on the 1916 biscuit tin. This isn't what I signed-up for.

Report abuse

CaptainCon | Dec 20, 2011, 05:27 AM EST

I'm sorry to say that the Irish people along with the American people continue to be fooled by corporations who pay little or nothing in corporation tax whether they are based in the United States or in Ireland. Google for example paid 3% tax on its 2010 profits and has a presence in Ireland only because Ireland is a jurisdiction which is part of a chain of locations around the world which serves as a 'warehouse' for global profits before moving money to the Netherlands and on to Bermuda where the corporate profit surfaces for taxation in a tax haven. The same corporations that rip-off the American rip-off the Irish in that Google will happily send executive stop lecture on how important its economic foootprint is and demand funding and infrastructure projects from both governments yet will contribute as little as possible in either the States or in Ireland. Remember Halliburton- selling rubbish to US troops and profiteering out of war and the lives of US soldiers and as soon as the truth began to emerge about that stalwart of the US corporate world it upped sticks and moved its HQ to the Middle-East where, it said, (and I quote) 'the real money is'. Americans are trained from an early age to love the corporation as an expression of US culture- it is nothing but a profit hungry snake which knows no loyalty but to the boardroom bonus.

Report abuse

LoyalCitizen | Dec 20, 2011, 02:09 AM EST

@Murph46: And who gave them the money in first place.

Report abuse

Murph46 | Dec 19, 2011, 07:42 PM EST

Loyal when you come back from your dream world let me know,American businesses and banks are pledging moey to help Ireland -check it out in the Wall Street Journal!

Report abuse

LoyalCitizen | Dec 19, 2011, 03:15 PM EST

@Murph46: You asset stripped Ireland and caused immeasurable amounts of harm to the Irish people that will eventually be exposed......... We should have taken the European funds and invested in the Irish People not pretentious American Corporations.........If i could get you out of here today i would.

Report abuse

Murph46 | Dec 19, 2011, 02:58 PM EST

Loyal Citizen QUIT BLAMING IRISH ECONOMIC TROUBLES on American Corporations we put money INTO your economy!

Report abuse

LoyalCitizen | Dec 19, 2011, 11:23 AM EST

The retards running Ireland for far too long wasted the European Funds and Irish Funds on the most pretentious American Corporations they could find and now want to every other European tax payer to forgive their stupidity...........This must mean they cannot steal from the sick, the handicapped, the unemployed or old age pensioners any more............Close to the bottom of the barrel and yet they still pay their special advisor's gross salaries, proving nepotism and cronyism is still alive and not just with Fianna Fail.

Report abuse

CaptainCon | Dec 19, 2011, 07:49 AM EST

An interesting assumption from the Irish Government there that any referendum involving Europe will be passed under any circumstance. Of course there will be the usual scaremongering but Irish Ministers would be foolish to promise a 'yes' in a referendum no matter what is on offer. The fact is that these debts should be audited and those attributable to the banking sector repudiated and placed around the neck of Irish banks and not the public purse- it doesn't matter then how long they wish to take to pay it off. This is just another attempt to get the Irish taxpayer to pay off private bank gambling debts and they should not be accepted in this manner by being tied to an apparent 'concession' from Europe. The Irish peoplen should have the guts to default, take two years of austerity instead of the slow death of at least a generation of the same. The sooner we default the sooner we recover. I'll put no money or effort into a slave nation. I will help financially and in any other way if Ireland rejects the fraudulent 'Treaty' being discussed and opts to default on Irish bank debt.

Report abuse