Ireland

Ireland passed the latest review of its bailout program, and is now looking to secure a deal to refinance its huge banking debts to help it regain access to markets, Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan said Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported. Under the terms of the 2010 bailout, the European Union, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank, regularly scrutinize Ireland for its adherence to a program of fiscal and banking targets. "All measures have been implemented and the program remains on track," Mr. Noonan told a news briefing.

More than 21,000 people could make use of the new personal insolvency legislation in its first full year of operation, the Dáil has heard. An estimated 15,000 applications are expected for non-court related settlements and insolvency arrangements as well as upwards of 3,000 bankruptcy applications, the Irish Times reported. There were about 30 bankruptcy decisions made last year. A further 3,000-4,000 applications are anticipated for debt-relief notices, Minister for Justice Alan Shatter has said.

Members of the Quinn family cannot be trusted to abide by court orders, the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC) said Wednesday, as it revealed it was seeking the urgent appointment of receivers to the worldwide assets of family members, the Irish Times reported. The bank cited the recent finding of contempt of court orders by Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne against Seán Quinn snr, his son Seán and his nephew Peter Darragh Quinn, and material that emerged in that case.

Could Ireland be the biggest winner from last week’s European summit? If the price of its bonds is any guide, investors seem to think so, the Financial Times reported. The country’s financial markets have enjoyed a sharp turnround since the middle of last year, switching from one of the worst performing markets in the wake of its 2010 bail-out to one of the best. The EU summit agreement, which allows the European Stability Mechanism, the eurozone’s new rescue fund, to invest directly in troubled banks, has provided a further boost.

A deepening mortgage crisis in Ireland is threatening to derail the country’s fragile economic recovery and raising fresh questions about the health of its banks, the Financial Times reported. Stubbornly high unemployment and lower wages, caused by a four-year economic crisis, have pushed many mortgage holders to the brink. At the same time plummeting property prices, which have halved in four years, mean hundreds of thousands of borrowers are stuck in negative equity and cannot simply sell their homes to escape debts.

The Irish government is mobilizing a campaign to seize advantage of a fresh euro-zone agreement to allow rescue funds to finance the currency bloc's broken banks, offering possible relief at the source of Ireland's financial straits, The Wall Street Journal reported. The deals struck by European leaders on Friday elicited perhaps the loudest cheers from Ireland, which more than any other euro-zone nation has suffered the ill effects of a tight embrace between a country and its banks.

A new scheme that will turn holders of hopelessly distressed mortgages into renters has been unveiled by Minister of State for Housing Jan O'Sullivan, the Irish Times reported. The Mortgage to Rent scheme will allow families remain in their home, but they will have to relinquish ownership of the property. The ownership of the house will be transferred to a housing agency financed by a 70 per cent loan from the original mortgage lender with the remainder coming from the State, which will take a 30 per cent equity stake in the house.

A High Court judge has further continued orders restraining the children of bankrupt businessman Seán Quinn, a nephew, two sons in law and a number of international companies dealing with assets owned or controlled by them worldwide below €50 million each, the Irish Times reported. The Quinn defendants will be allowed up to €8,000 for ordinary living expenses each, subject to approval by solicitors for the former Anglo Irish Bank and receipts being provided by them, until the injunction orders return to court on July 24th, Mr Justice Peter Kelly directed.

Ireland's main mortgage lenders have given some indication of how they plan to engage with the forthcoming personal insolvency legislation, following their attendance at a meeting of the Government’s Economic Management Council on Tuesday night, the Irish Times reported. The meeting was called in advance of the publication of the Personal Insolvency Bill, which aims to address the mortgage arrears issue.

The Cabinet has today approved the publication of the massive Personal Insolvency Bill that will be published on Friday, the Irish Times reported. Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore held a press conference this afternoon disclosing some details of the 200-page document and also announcing a meeting with the main banks tonight on the legislation. Mr Kenny said the legislation when published would give a clear incentive for the banks to sit down with borrowers and work out bilateral agreements for the first time.