Noonan dismisses Ashoka Mody comments on debt writedown

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has dismissed comments made by the former IMF chief of mission to Ireland, that the Irish government blew an opportunity to get a debt writedown deal.

Ashoka Mody, the former IMF mission chief, said Ireland should have gotten a superior deal in 2011.

Speaking on Newstalk’s Lunchtime programme today, Mr Mody said Ireland had its opportunity.

“Ireland fell in with that culture, Ireland had its opportunity to, not just for itself but for Europe, in a way, Ireland in accepting the premise that Brussels and Berlin determine economic policy in every country. Ireland fell in with that premise and therefore perpetuated a culture that this current Greek government is trying to break.”

Asked if the Ireland missed an opportunity to strike a deal, Mr Mody said “absolutely”.

“There was a burden of debt that would legitimately be declared as an odious debt and this was not necessarily because there was something unique about this particular government but because there had been severe and egregious errors that it inherited,” he said.

“It was on that premise that it won the election and what the deal at that time could have been, I don’t know but it should certainly have been a superior deal,”he added.

However, Mr Noonan said the comments were in line with a series of statements that Mr Mody has made about Ireland in recent times, and would be taken lightly.

“I suppose when he was there and when he was in a position to do something, he didn’t do much for us, so advice now that he is no longer in a position of influence, would be taken lightly,” he said.