Speaking on the decision taken at Eurogroup this evening to examine the extension of maturities on Ireland’s and Portugal’s EFSF loans, Finance Minister Michael Noonan said: The decision by the Eurogroup this evening (21st January 2013) to examine the extension of the maturities on Ireland’s and Portugal’s EFSF loans is a very welcome and positive development.

This recognises the efforts being made by well performing programme countries.

The Eurogroup agreed to refer this issue to senior officials to examine the technical details and they will report back shortly. This has the potential to further enhance Ireland’s debt sustainability and to facilitate our successful full return to the markets.

I look forward to the conclusion of this examination as soon as possible.

“If you extend the profile of the debt, that means the NTMA wouldn’t have to borrow to repay the debt as quickly as they’re now profiled. As a consequence you’d have a reduction in interest rate going forward,” he said. “We’re not talking about hundreds of millions, we’re talking about savings of a certain amount of billions. We’d have to quantify that when the work is done on it. We’re not talking about huge amounts of money, we’re talking about a significant amount.”