FINE GAEL’S Finance spokesperson Michael Noonan has claimed that a clash of policy has emerged between IMF and ECB over whether discounts should be taken from bondholders.

Noon said:

I’m hearing that there is a conflict of policy position between the IMF and the European Central Bank.

The IMF would be following the type of American model where those that lend recklessly should be punished as well as those who borrow recklessly. And that would mean, as the banking system is worked out, there would be discounts taken from the bondholders.

When Noonan was asked if that included senior bondholders, he said that it would.

Speaking about sovereign borrowing, Noonan said that Ireland would be be “out of the bond markets as far as the country is concerned for about three years”. He said that the country would draw money from a combination of the funds given by the IMF and Europe.

He also attacked Fianna Fáil, saying the party had relinquished Irish sovereignty.

“The IMF can intervene on a quarterly basis. That shows who is in charge,” he said.