Ireland can repay loans without special conditions, IMF has said.
THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said Ireland can repay its bailout loans early free of charge and without any conditionality.
Finance Minister Michael Noonan has said taxpayers could save up to €375m per year if the state was able to pay-off a share of the IMF portion of the €67.5bn bailout.
But repaying the IMF portion of the loan early would automatically trigger the repayment of the less onerous European share also, thereby wiping out any potential benefit.
A proposed deal would see Ireland raise cash on the markets to repay €15bn of the more than €22bn that the Government owes to the IMF.
It comes after the international rescue fund hiked interest rates to almost 5pc, compared to little more than 2pc on the markets.
Mr Noonan said last month that lenders have yet to be asked to waive their repayment rights. The idea will be pursued at ministerial level in September, he said.
Fianna Fail’s finance spokesman Michael McGrath, who received a letter from the IMF assuring him that Ireland could repay its loans earlier, said today that every effort must be made by the Government to achieve this.
“The government now needs to follow up on this with the other international lenders who provided us with funds under the bailout programme as their consent is required to avoid early repayment of the IMF loans triggering proportionate repayments to the other lenders,” Mr McGrath said.
“It is in everyone’s interests that Ireland’s debt position is made more sustainable and that this annual saving is achieved for the benefit of Irish taxpayers.”
The scheme being considered would see the bulk of the IMF loans repaid early in three tranches of €5bn each.
A potential deal would shave €20m to €25m of interest from every €1bn refinanced, the finance minister said. On €15bn that saving would add up to between €300m and €375m a year.
The scheme will require sign-off from all euro zone member states as well as the UK, Sweden and Denmark.
In the letter to Mr McGrath, Ireland mission chief Craig Beaumont said the IMF accepts early repayment with no charge or conditionality attached.
“Early repayments are not unusual, including examples in recent years of Latvia, Hungary and Iceland,” he wrote.
The IMF imposes a surcharge on the loan because of its scale.
That charge was 200 basis points, or two percentage points, but the IMF increased this in mid-January to 300 basis points, or three percentage points, because of the loan duration – pushing up the overall rate of interest.
Unpopular prescription charge is a healthy €120m HSE earner
Recently, yet another study has shown that we Irish drink far in excess of other countries. It says that 1.3m of us have a harmful drinking pattern and that 75pc of our episodes of drinking constitute a binge. In other words, we don’t drink to add pleasure to a meal, or oil the social machinery. Ireland drinks to get drunk.
The so-called “nominal” prescription charge for medical card holders has become a lucrative earner for the health service and will generate €120m this year.
The charge – which is now €2.50 per item, compared to 50c when it started in 2011 – was brought in on the pretext of cutting down on card holders getting needless prescriptions.
It means that medical card holders, who shelled out around €27.6m in the first year it was introduced by the last government, have seen a big rise in payouts.
Pharmacists have warned that it is leading to some
medical card holders rationing medicines because they cannot afford the maximum of €25 a month.
It comes as Health Minister Leo Varadkar has indicated that he is looking at introducing a nominal charge for “free” GP visits when they are extended to non means-testing groups after the under-sixes and over-70s.
The GP fee is seen a method of deterring people from abusing free care – but past experience with the prescription charge has shown how this kind of levy can be hiked.
Around €43m of the income from the charge this year is hived out to help offset the savings of €619m which must be made up by the Health Service Executive (HSE).
Dr Varadkar is also expected to face objections from doctors to the introduction of a nominal fee for people who are given free GP visits, outside the normal means-tested benefit.
The Irish Medical Organisation (IMO), which is currently negotiating with the Department of Health on the roll-out of free GP care, may also have to oppose a nominal charge for patients when the scheme is introduced. This is because members voted against this kind of charge at the union’s annual meeting when it was proposed for medical card holders as a means of reducing unnecessary visits.
Mayo GP Dr Ken Egan had asked his colleagues to support the introduction of a €5 per visit charge for medical card holders to prevent family doctors being flooded with the “worried well”. However, the proposal was rejected by the gathering of doctors who pointed out that it was akin to the prescription charge which the union opposed.
This was adopted as policy and negotiators may find it difficult to sell the concept of a nominal visit fee to its membership as a result.
Such a fee would have to be collected by GPs from a reluctant public and would also mean a lower fee paid per patient by the State.
The original estimate for the extension of free GP care to the entire population was put at €332m, based on the rates which are currently paid to GPs.
However, these capitation fees have already been condemned as inadequate and they will not compensate GPs for the loss of income from private patients who pay around €60 a visit.
The IMO is expected to demand higher State fees for providing free visits to the over-70s, who are guaranteed to make regular use of the benefit.
Tens of thousands expected at Knock novena this week
An estimated 150,000 pilgrims are expected to take part in this year’s national public novena at Knock which begins on Thursday. It continues until the following Thursday August 22nd.
Novena speakers this year will include Jesuit Fr David Neuheus on Thursday next, Dominican Fr Timothy Radcliffe on Friday, Bishop of Raphoe Philip Boyce on Saturday, Bishop of Elphin Kevin Doran on Sunday, Fr. Padraig Devine of the Shalom Centre for Conflict Resolution in Kenya on Monday, and Elma Walsh, mother of the late Kerry teenager Donal Walsh, who will speak on Wednesday August 20th. Rev Professor Eamon Conway of Mary Immaculate College in Limerick will speak on Saturday next also.
The novena theme this year is ‘Witness to hope’ and it will focus on honouring the 15 people who were witnesses to the Marian apparition at Knock 135 years ago in 1879. It is also intended to highlight the hope and prayers of the faithful for the renewal of the Church in Ireland at this time.
Knock parish priest Fr Richard Gibbons, who will himself speak during the novena on Thursday August 21st, said: “There is a new departure this year with the national novena – and as part of the 135th anniversary celebration of the apparition – we have developed a faith renewal programme incorporating seminars and workshops designed to give people a practical as well as an intellectual approach to the lives of pilgrims.
“There is something for in Knock for everyone in 2014! As usual our novena sessions will give everyone a great sense of encountering The Lord, together through the Eucharist, and also other sacraments such as Reconciliation/Confession. All are welcome.”
Daily Mass and prayer sessions will be complemented by seminars and workshops to assist the faith development, and faith renewal, of the pilgrims in attendance.
‘The majority of begging in Dublin city centre is organised’
Richard Guiney, who represents thousands of businesses in the capital, said the government needs to do more.
THE MAJORITY OF begging in Dublin city centre is of an organised nature, the head of an organisation representing thousands of businesses in the capital has said.
Richard Guiney, the head of DublinTown, said that current begging legislation “isn’t worth the paper it’s written on” and called on the government to do more to tackle the problem.
“Certainly we would see that the majority of the begging in the city would be of an organised nature,” he told reporters on O’Connell Street this morning.
Guiney went on to say that it is the biggest issue in the city today, saying it is “definitely impacting on people’s enjoyment of the city”.
He added: “We would see pitches in the city that are basically one person goes, another person comes and there’s a bit of interaction – it’s almost a changing of the shifts.
“We would also have observed people collecting money from people who are begging on the street. It’s like a cash collection in a shop and certainly prima facie [evidence] from where we’re at.”
He was speaking at the launch of DublinTown, the new name for the Dublin City Business Improvement District (BID) which is made up of 2,500 businesses in the capital’s city centre.
Dublin City BID was established six years ago with the aim of winning back customers in the wake of the financial collapse and providing a strong city destination for tourists.
Guiney said the name change made sense given that most people living in the capital refer to the city centre as “town”. “It has an awful lot of resonance with the general public,” he said.
He also said he supported the Lord Mayor Christy Burke’s call for a task force Lord Mayor Christy Burke’s call for a task force to tackle the drugs problem in the city but Guiney claimed that despite its reputation O’Connell Street is “probably one of the safest streets” in the capital.
“It’s an extremely safe street,” he said while acknowledging there is a “reputational” and “perception” issue.
Guiney claimed that there were just 18 assaults on the busy city centre street last year out of a footfall of around 27.5 million people. He said that most of the people involved in the assaults knew each other.
Scientists prove grouse shooting and hen harries can co-exist
Researchers at Aberdeen University have proved that hen harrier chicks could be reared in captivity and released into the wild elsewhere, protecting both bird numbers and grouse shooting
Scientists have shown that hen harriers and grouse shooting can successfully co-exist by rearing the chicks in captivity and releasing them in areas where they won’t pose a significant impact to shoots.
The research, led by Professor Steve Redpath of the Aberdeen University, proved that at certain population densities, hen harriers and grouse could live harmoniously.
“The model suggested that across the grouse moors of England there was room for 70 pairs of hen harriers at relatively low cost for grouse shooting,” said Professor Redpath.
“Any decision about how to use this model depends as much on politics as on science. However, if both sides are interested in pursuing the idea, this model provides a framework for this dialogue to take place.
“Ecology has a vital role to play in understanding and tackling these conflicts by providing impartial evidence and exploring various technical solutions. However, this must be done with those involved in the conflict so that science addresses the issues people are most concerned about, and that they therefore have ownership of the results.”
The next step is for all stakeholders to use the model to agree on an acceptable number of hen harriers and test this in a field trial.
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