The credit union movement should be subjected to a four year restructuring process, the Commission on Credit Unions recommended in a report published Wednesday, the Irish Times reported. A new Restructuring Board should be established to facilitate the process but it would not be the board’s function to “shepherd” individual credit unions that were small or in difficulty, into “an arranged marriage” with other credit unions, commission chairman Prof Donal McKillop told a press conference.

The former Anglo Irish Bank may ask the Supreme Court later this week for a speedy hearing of its proposed appeal against a significant ruling permitting bankrupt businessman Seán Quinn’s family to make claims of illegal conduct by the bank in their action aimed at avoiding liability for €2.34 billion loans to companies in the Quinn Group, the Irish Times reported. The bank may also seek a stay on the family’s proceedings pending the outcome of any Supreme Court appeal.

A senior European Central Bank member has played down the prospect of the debt burden arising from the State’s banking crisis being eased, saying that such a move would undermine confidence in the country, the Irish Times reported. Speaking in Dublin today, Jorge Asmussen said that “any desire to offload this debt could have dire consequences”. He added that seeking to reduce the debt would signal that the current debt level was not sustainable.

As Ireland trudges through the pain of economic recovery, restaurant owners across the country have been cutting prices to sustain a flow of customers and avoid going out of business, The Wall Street Journal reported. The result is sector-specific deflation that has brought big drops in revenue not only for Irish restaurant owners but also for hotel proprietors, retailers and most other consumer-linked businesses. The situation is a peril of the euro.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), a part paymaster in the €67.5bn in bailout loans to Ireland, has recommended the "bold" restructuring of household debt including mortgage writedowns in a bid to prevent prolonged recessions, The Independent reported. Such moves could help avert cycles of household defaults, further house price declines and additional contractions in output, according to the IMF’s bi-annual assessment of the global economy. It cited the examples of Iceland and the US where this policy has worked in the past.

The National Asset Management Agency approved 113 of 114 applications for rental reductions sought by tenants of Nama debtors last year, Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has confirmed, the Irish Times reported. Last December, Nama issued a guidance note on upward-only commercial leases, following Mr Noonan’s announcement that the Government had abandoned plans to scrap upward-only rent reviews.

European Central Bank president Mario Draghi maintained a cautious public stance yesterday on the Government’s effort to restructure some of its banking debt, saying the State must meet standing contracts and commitments, the Irish Times reported. While senior euro zone sources say technical work is ongoing on a deal to revise Anglo Irish Bank’s promissory note scheme, Mr Draghi declined two opportunities to say whether he supported Dublin’s campaign.

The banking industry has urged the Government to limit the mortgage debt eligible to be written off in out-of-court debt settlements at €1 million, fearing that the proposed €3 million limit would include too much property investment debt, the Irish Times reported. The group representing mortgage lenders has lobbied Governments officials to reduce the debt cap to €1 million for individuals applying for personal insolvency arrangements to prevent too many buy-to-let mortgages and property investors being included.

Eircom has applied for court protection to allow it to restructure its debt load, the Irish Times reported. A representative of the company told the High Court the firm was applying for examinership, a process that protects company assets from creditors for up to 100 days while a survival plan is worked on to keep the business afloat. The examinership is the largest in Irish corporate history. Under the proposals, Eircom’s gross debts would be reduced from about €4 billion currently to about €2.35 billion.

The Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC), which is winding down Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide, has said it is in talks that could lead to it taking on residential mortgages from other banks, the Irish Times reported. Confirming for the first time that IBRC may take on non-core assets from other lenders, the bank said the talks were centred on repairing the financial system to allow banks to lend again.