Paying €3.1bn for Anglo note ‘difficult’ – Noonan

 

Any bets on what is going to happen in this situation. I have a bad feeling this is leading in the direction of Johnny Citizen.

Will we have a special tax to pay off this installment? 

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has told the Dáil it would be “difficult” for Ireland to pay the next €3.1 billion installment of the promissory notes due at the end of March.

However Mr Noonan said he was “still confident of a positive outcome” to negotiations with the ECB.

He was responded to a question from Sinn Féin‘s Pearse Doherty, who said the State was not in a position to pay the €3.1bn and the Government should tell the ECB that.

He referred to the negotiations as “pussyfooting” and said Ireland should be seeking a write-down of debt, not an extension of the term for paying it back.

Mr Doherty also asked for details of whether the ECB had rejected a proposal, if an alternative proposal would be ready for the next meeting of the ECB board; and what the Government would regard as a satisfactory outcome.

Mr Noonan said it would not be helpful to go into detail, and accused Sinn Féin of positioning itself to reject whatever deal was agreed.

He reiterated his expectation of a deal on the note in the coming weeks and said it was his belief that the Government will get a satisfactory arrangement by the 31 March deadline.

via Paying €3.1bn for Anglo note ‘difficult’ – Noonan – RTÉ News.

Video: American economist destroys Michael Noonan on TV

Michael Noonan is powerless over his own stupidity, but not on how bankers get paid. That’s according to Max Keiser who recently had a rant about our own Minister… Have a listen above.

In this clip from the news network Russia Today, the American economist Max Keiser (sound familiar?) lambasts Michael Noonan calling him a “social misfit” and saying that he should be removed from office immediately. Would you agree?

The clip was actually recorded back in November, but Max’s feelings towards the Minister for Finance are surely being felt by the rest of country, especially since last week’s Budget.

Now, while you might not agree with everything Max has to say, he certainly raises some good points. Make sure to have a listen if you’re heading home on the bus and let us know what you think of what Max has to say.

via World affairs | Video: American economist destroys Michael Noonan on TV.

via World affairs | Video: American economist destroys Michael Noonan on TV.

Mystery over crucial missing Lenihan notes

CHAIRMAN of the Public Accounts Committee (Pac) John McGuinness has said he finds it utterly inconceivable that there is no record of crucial notes or minutes of meetings where former Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan and ex-Taoiseach Brian Cowen delivered frank assessments of the Department of Finance whose failings helped bankrupt the country.

After an almost two-year Freedom of Information battle, department officials have claimed there are “no records” of meetings that went on for hours between Mr Cowen and Mr Lenihan and a panel led by Rob Wright — a former deputy minister for finance in Canada — into why the department failed to prevent Ireland’s financial Armageddon.

Kevin Cardiff, the department’s then secretary general who was in charge of banking during the boom, has claimed that he had “no formal meetings” with the Wright commission and he kept no notes of informal ones. The department admits its records show Mr Cardiff was due to meet Mr Wright on both August 9, 2010, and August 10, 2010, but has no records of what may have been said.

“It is totally beyond credibility that no records of these meetings exist,” Mr McGuinness said. “These were high-level meetings relating to the biggest decisions in the State’s history. We are expected to believe that Kevin Cardiff was the head of banking, and no notes. Brian Lenihan was the Minister for Finance and we’re told there are no notes.

“Brian Cowen was the Taoiseach and we are told there are no notes. Someone somewhere has a record of those meetings.

“When Kevin Cardiff was before the Pac, he was able to recall documents and emails instantly before our eyes to do with the €3.6bn error and redact sections. It is not credible that notes or records don’t exist, or at least did exist at some stage,” he said.

via Mystery over crucial missing Lenihan notes – Irish, Business – Independent.ie.

via Mystery over crucial missing Lenihan notes – Irish, Business – Independent.ie.