Therefore, to avoid upward pressure to overnight rates, the supply of liquidity had to be brought forward within the maintenance period. As a result, the ECB accommodated banks’ preference for front-loading their reserves during the reserve maintenance period, by increasing the liquidity supply at the beginning of the period and reducing it later in the period.
Despite already receiving a 4 billion injection, by the end of 2009, it was clear  8  It is important to note that as judged by the fiscal criteria of the Maastricht treaty, Ireland’s record before the crisis was exemplary: it was exceeded the deficit criteria only in 2008 and the debt criteria in 2009.