Noonan to meet Dijsselbloem over credit line

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan is to meet Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem today to discuss whether the Government should seek a precautionary credit line when it leaves the troika bailout programme in December.

Mr Noonan said the decision on which option to take was “finely balanced” but he wanted to have the best information before advising his Cabinet colleagues on the matter.

The meeting comes amid continuing uncertainty over whether the Government will seek a precautionary credit line when it leaves the bailout programme in December.

Mr Noonan said he was consulting with Mr Dijsselbloem as he would have a “lot of political information” which would be useful in advising the Government.

“He is president of the Eurogroup and he keeps political contact with other colleagues and I want to hear what he thinks,” Mr Noonan said. He was speaking to reporters ahead of today’s Cabinet meeting and is due to fly out to The Hague, Netherlands to meet Mr Dijsselbloem this afternoon.

With only seven weeks to go before Ireland’s official exit from the EU-IMF bailout, there is still no consensus in the troika or among European leaders about what sort of backstop might be provided to cushion Ireland’s return to the markets.

The Government is keen to ensure any conditions attached to a credit facility should go no further than existing EU budgetary commitments.

Last week Mr Noonan met with International Monetary Fund (IMF) officials in Washington on the matter.

Last month he held negotiations in Strasbourg with EU economics commissioner Olli Rehn, as well as discussions in Frankfurt with the European Central Bank.