Irish bank debt solution unlikely by final months of year, says Schulz

THE PRESIDENT of the European Parliament has said he does not believe a solution to ease Ireland’s huge bank recapitalisation debt will be possible until the end of the year at least.

German MEP Martin Schulz told a press conference in Government Buildings yesterday that, in the interests of EU solidarity, the terms of the bailout programme with Ireland should be altered to reflect that outcome of the European summit on June 29th.

However, he said the different decisions, including a new banking supervisory mechanism, gave rise to complex issues which would take time to resolve. These would need to be in place before countries like Ireland and Spain could benefit from the new bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism. “I have some doubt that we can achieve that [before] the end of the year. It is perhaps possible but, seen from today, I doubt it,” said Mr Schulz. “When I am speaking about mutual respect and trust, the problem of the EU is the loss of trust of our citizens and the effectiveness of national and European institutions,” he said.