LONDON (MNI) – The UK stands ready to support Ireland but has not
had any formal request for assistance, Treasury Minister Mark Hoban told
parliament Wednesday.
Hoban, who made the statement to Parliament because Chancellor of
the Exchequer George Osborne is in Brussels, made clear the UK was ready
in principle to give Ireland support but said it was not up to him to
tell Ireland what to do.
Hoban, the financial secretary to the Treasury, said there were
“ongoing concerns about Ireland’s finanacial and economic resilience”
but added “there have been no formal requests for assistance from
Ireland.”
“It is not for me to say whether they should request assistance,
just as I wouldn’t tell them how to run any part of their economy,”
Hoban said.
Hoban highlighted the woes of the Irish banking system, saying
“They obviously have large financial institutions that have got
themselves into difficulty.”
He made the case for the UK to support Irleand.
“Ireland is one of our biggest export markets. We have very close
economic ties with them and, as the Chancellor said this morning, it is
in the British national interest that the Irish economy is succesful. So
we stand ready to support Ireland in its attempts to bring about
stability,” Hoban said.
–London newsroom: 0044 20 7862 7491; email: ukeditorial@marketnews.com
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