Until these deferred amounts are settled in cash, the cash needs of IBRC are being met with some € billion of exceptional liquidity assistance from the Central Bank of Ireland. The drawings of the Central Bank on the Eurosystem that, in effect, meet this ELA is subject to remuneration at the ECB policy rate, currently 1 per cent.
As long as these arrangements continue, then, they have a sizable impact on the gross – and especially the net – debt of the State, but the overall running cost to Ireland has been relatively low, 2 thanks to the indulgence (in this matter at any rate) of the locally oft-maligned ECB!