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Political agreement was today reached at the Informal Ecofin in Dublin Castle to extend the maturities on the EU element of Ireland's and Portugal’s EU/IMF programme loans. The weighted average maturity limit of these loans will be increased by seven years. This agreement will support Ireland’s and Portugal’s ability to exit their respective programmes by making a full and sustainable return to the market financing at competitive rates.

Speaking in Dublin Castle following the decision by European Finance Ministers to extend the maturities on Ireland’s and Portugal's EFSF and EFSM loan the Irish Minister for Finance, Michael Noonan stated:

“The agreement reached today to lengthen the maturities of Ireland's and Portugal's EFSF and EFSM loans by increasing the weighted average maturity by seven years is a very positive development and marks another significant step on Ireland’s and Portugal's journey to a full and sustainable return to the markets. The return of Programme Countries to the financial markets is a win for Europe as it shows that Europe can resolve the difficulties that we are currently facing.

This agreement will smoothen the debt redemption profile and will significantly reduce the amount of money that Ireland will need to borrow over the next decade or so. The details of the agreement will be worked out at a technical level but it will keep downward pressure on our borrowing costs. This is particularly important as it will increase the ability of our banks, semi-states and large companies to raise capital at lower cost on the financial markets and will have a consequent benefit across the whole Irish economy.

This decision builds upon the successful conclusion of the on the resolution of the Promissory Note in February and demonstrates the significant progress the Government is making in reducing the burden of both our banking and sovereign debt. The benefit of this strategy can be seen in the successful auction of €5 billion in 10 year bonds in March and means Ireland is well on its way to exiting the EU/IMF Programme on schedule at the end of this year.

The continued support of other EU member states to Ireland’s recovery, in conjunction with the sacrifices the Irish people are making to restore growth to our economy and order to our public finances is bearing fruit. However, as a small, open, Eurozone economy our prospects are intrinsically linked to developments throughout the European Union so we are working on important measures to support growth, stability and jobs across the Union, including the Banking Union and long term financing of economic growth.”