The Economic Adjustment Programme for Ireland, usually referred to as the Bailout programme, is a Memorandum of understanding on financial assistance to the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

in order to cope with the Post-2008 Irish financial crisis. It was signed on 16 December 2010 by the

Irish Government The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland. The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The gover ...

under then-

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the offi ...

Brian Cowen Brian Bernard Cowen (born 10 January 1960) is an Irish former politician who served as Taoiseach and Leader of Fianna Fáil from 2008 to 2011. Cowen was elected to Dáil Éireann in 1984, for the constituency of Laois–Offaly and served in a ...

on one hand, and on the other hand by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

on behalf of the

Eurogroup The Eurogroup is the recognised collective term for the informal meetings of the finance ministers of the eurozone—those member states of the European Union (EU) which have adopted the euro as their official currency. The group has 19 member ...

, the

European Central Bank The European Central Bank (ECB) is the prime component of the monetary Eurosystem and the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) as well as one of seven institutions of the European Union. It is one of the world's most important centra ...

(ECB) and the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster gl ...

(IMF). On 15 December 2013, Ireland exited the programme.

Memorandum of Understanding

On 28 November 2010,

(ECB) and the

(IMF), colloquially called the European Troika, agreed with the Irish government in a three-year financial aid programme on the condition of far-reaching

austerity Austerity is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three primary types of austerity measures: higher taxes to fund spendi ...

measures to be imposed on the Irish society in order to cut

government expenditure Public expenditure is spending made by the government of a country on collective needs and wants, such as pension, provisions, security, infrastructure, etc. Until the 19th century, public expenditure was limited as laissez faire philosophies b ...

. To avoid the legislative

ratification Ratification is a principal's approval of an act of its agent that lacked the authority to bind the principal legally. Ratification defines the international act in which a state indicates its consent to be bound to a treaty if the parties inte ...

procedures required for

treaties A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal pers ...

under

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

, the programme was set up as an intergovernmental agreement consisting of: * the ''Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies'' (MEFP), * the ''Memorandum of Understanding on Specific Economic Policy Conditionality'' (MoU), * and the ''Technical Memorandum of Understanding'' (TMU), the actual Loan Facility Agreement. The agreements were signed on 16 December 2010 by the Irish government and the European Commission.

Financial aid

The total amount of €85 billion would consist of €67.5 billion external support, consisting of: * €22.5 billion from the

European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism The European Financial Stabilisation Mechanism (EFSM) is an emergency funding programme reliant upon funds raised on the financial markets and guaranteed by the European Commission using the budget of the European Union as collateral. It runs un ...

(EFSM), * €22.5 billion from the

European Financial Stability Facility The European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) is a special purpose vehicle financed by members of the eurozone to address the European sovereign-debt crisis. It was agreed by the Council of the European Union on 9 May 2010, with the object ...

(EFSF) and bilateral loans from the Euro non-member states

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

, Sweden and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, and * €22.5 billion from the

(IMF) as well as a €17.5 billion contribution from the Irish Treasury and the National Pension Reserve Fund.

References

Literature

* {{cite book, ref=ocp76, url=http://ec.europa.eu/economy_finance/publications/occasional_paper/2011/pdf/ocp76_en.pdf, title=The Economic Adjustment Programme for Ireland, author=European Commission, authorlink=European Commission, series=Occasional Papers, issue=76, date=February 2011, place=Brussels, isbn=978-92-79-19326-2, doi=10.2765/18170, doi-broken-date=19 October 2022

External links

Financial assistance to Ireland
on the website of the European Commission Eurozone crisis 2010s economic history 2010s in Irish politics Economic adjustment programmes of the European Union Brian Cowen Post-2008 Irish economic downturn

Memorandum of Understanding

Financial aid

See also

References

Literature

External links