Ireland North & West MEP Marian Harkin today welcomed the agreement reached by EU leaders in Brussels which could well see banking debt taken off the shoulders of Irish citizens with consequent benefits for our economy.
She said: “This agreement proposes that the ESM could be used to directly re-capitalise eurozone banks. This is a significant change in policy which I and others have called for over the last number of years.
“This is a real step forward and we can finally see a way to break the link between Irish sovereign and banking debt which has crippled this country economically. This new deal could bring down borrowing costs for Ireland and potentially reduce the short term burden on the Irish taxpayer but most importantly, will not include any new economic reforms.”
The MEP added: “I hope this deal will help to bring some form of stability back to Ireland, make our path back to the financial markets easier and crucially, can go some way to ensure we avoid a second bailout. This is not a get out of jail card and the debt still remains but however this agreement may give us some breathing space, an opportunity to get back into the markets and help to restore confidence in the Irish economy.”
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