Irish Ministers Slam Rumours Of Second Irish Bailout

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

16 January 2012

Enda Kenny and Michael Noonan have both denied talk of a second bailout for Ireland as members of the troika continue their visit to the country to evaluate its progress.

Speaking at a Reuters conference in London on January 12, Prime Minister Kenny said that he did not share the view that a second bailout is necessary, as had been suggested by analysts earlier in the week.

Kenny admitted that "there is no magic solution to our very significant economic challenges", and added that "they will only be overcome by slow, patient and often painstaking measures to rebalance our public finances, to renew our banking sector, and to rebuild confidence in the economy."

Kenny stressed that, ten months in to his tenure as Prime Minister, his government was delivering on the commitments and requirements of Ireland's EU/IMF backed bailout. Kenny said that the bailout programme "is a fact of life for us in Ireland now", including the quarterly reviews by the troika (European Commission, European Central Bank, and IMF).

The Prime Minister added that while he gets no pleasure from this situation, he is satisfied by the fact that each Troika review to date has been positive. He noted that: "We have built up a high level of trust between the government and our official funders, which in turn allows greater room for sensible evolution and enhancement of the programme to improve its prospects of success, to support a return to growth, and to restore market confidence in our public finances and banking system. Our progress has been acknowledged by our peers and the international markets and has gone some way to restoring our international reputation."

Kenny's comments follow on from those of his Finance Minister, who slammed the rumours of a second bailout. Speaking as parliament prepared to reconvene after the Christmas break on January 11, Noonan said it was "ludicrous to be talking about a second bailout".

Noonan argued that: “We’re a year into the rescue programme which was negotiated by the previous government and we’re fully funded until the back end of 2013. So it’s really speculation by economists who at the start of the year speculate on these matters.”

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