Ireland has now paid £358 million (€428 million) in interest to the UK on a crisis loan it gave to the State in 2010.
A total of £3.2 billion was lent by the UK to the Republic as part of an international rescue package of the State’s collapsing economy. The latest report from the British treasury says Ireland has now paid the UK £358 million in interest since 2011.
Since June 2014, the UK exchequer has received an interest payment of around £42 million every six months.
It will be March 2021 before the bilateral loan’s term is up. The final tranche of money was paid to Ireland in September 2013. The document said: “The [British] government agreed to provide a bilateral loan to Ireland because it is in the UK’s national interest that Ireland has a successful economy and a stable banking system.
"The links between our financial systems, particularly in Northern Ireland, mean that there was a strong economic case to provide financial assistance to Ireland. By being part of the international financial package, the UK indirectly supported the very many businesses across the UK that trade with Ireland."
The loan was made at the same time as a bailout by the European Commission, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank and at a time when the country's banking system threatened to implode.
In 2012, then chancellor George Osborne reduced the rate of interest on the loan in line with euro zone lenders. – PA
