Ireland may have to contribute €1 billion to a bailout programme for Greece if the country secures financial assistance for the third time.
The Department of Finance confirmed that Ireland would have to contribute 2 per cent of the cost of any bailout and the Greek government is expected to seek a new €50 billion programme.
The department said the size of Ireland’s contribution would depend on the type of programme the Greek government requests. It is expected most of the money will come from the European Stability Mechanism – Europe’s permanent bailout fund – into which Ireland has paid €1.4 billion.
However, the Government could still have to provide additional funds to the programme. Greece already owes Ireland €347 million from previous bailouts.
Minister for Finance Michael Noonan insisted any Irish contribution to a new Greek bailout would not impact on the upcoming budget.
“Will it have a budgetary effect? No,” he said. “But there is a possible potential liability in the future but it wouldn’t have a budgetary effect for the next budget.”
Mr Noonan flew to Brussels last night for a meeting of eurogroup finance ministers that will discuss Greece but Government sources said a solution could be weeks away.
“Little had changed despite the outcome of the referendum. The referendum result only makes it more difficult. Any agreement could be weeks away,” the source said.
Sacrificed services
Minister of State at the Department of Finance Simon Harris said it was too early to say what the cost of a new bailout would be for Ireland.
He challenged the Opposition parties to detail what Irish public services they would be willing to sacrifice for a debt write-down. “Unlike the Sinn Féin assertion you can pull money off the magic money tree, funds in Ireland are hard-earned by our taxpayers,” he said.
Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the ball was in the Greek government's court and a request for a fresh programme needed. "If the Greek government now wish to have further assistance and facilities made available from Europe then they have got to ask for a third programme and that won't happen overnight," he said. "The European Central Bank is independent in the way they do their business . . . Mario Draghi did say before that they had kept emergency liquidity of €90 billion approximately flowing into the banks in Greece and that they would have expected a conclusion to the negotiations."
Mr Kenny said: “Nobody wants to see people in Greece suffering with what is happening now, and the next move is for a request from the Greek government to the institutions.”
Solidarity
Sinn Féin leader
Gerry Adams
said the decision of the Greeks needed to be respected by all European leaders. He said the result was a wake-up call for all EU leaders and demanded a rethink on how the union was run. “It is now time to return to the values of solidarity and co-operation that the founders of the European movement claimed underpinned it.”
Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin urged the Government to play a more constructive role in the talks.
“The chaos that we have seen in the last week has not done anything positive for Greece’s prospects or for European stability. Europe is better and stronger when we are united in common purpose and debt sustainability plays a key part in this.”
Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan said the situation in Greece was “extremely grave” and the euro zone was in “uncharted waters”.
