Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the status of the loan made by the UK to the Republic of Ireland following the financial crisis of 2008/09; what is the repayment schedule; and what are the servicing costs.

I refer the noble Lord to the most recent statutory report on the UK’s bilateral Loan to Ireland, which the Treasury provided to Parliament as required by Section 2 of the Loans to Ireland Act 2010. The most recent version of the report was laid in Parliament on 7 February 2020 and is available in the Printed Paper Office.^[1]

The report shows that the first repayment on the loan took place in April 2019. To date, four repayments have been made according to the agreed schedule. £1,613,480,000 on the principal remains outstanding. The final repayment will take place in March 2021. The Government continues to expect the loan to be repaid on time and in full.

As stipulated under the loan’s Credit Facility Agreement, Ireland pays a service fee equal to 0.18% of the remaining tranches of the loan per annum. This fee is payable on 15 December and 15 June concurrently with interest payments on the remaining tranches of the loan.

^[1]https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/864414/PU2193_Ireland_loan_statutory_report_2020.pdf