Citation 2010 c. 41 Commencement 21 December 2010 | Royal assent 21 December 2010 | |
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Long title An Act to make provision in connection with the making of loans to Ireland by the United Kingdom. Introduced by George Osborne (Chancellor of the Exchequer) Territorial extent England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland | ||
The Loans to Ireland Act 2010 (c. 41) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act allows HM Treasury to loan up to £3,250 million (£3.25 billion; €3,835 million/€3.84 billion) to Ireland, as part of an €85 billion European Union bailout package. The final disbursement of the loan was made on 26 September 2013. The final repayment by Ireland is due on 26 March 2021.
Contents
Parliamentary passage
The Bill was introduced on 9 December 2010 and passed through all stages in the House of Commons on 15 December. This is unusual, and only ever occurs with short, emergency legislation. As a Money Bill, it then passed through the House of Lords without detailed consideration in Committee, and passed through the second and third readings on 21 December.
Provisions
The Act allows the Treasury, between 9 December 2010 and 8 December 2015, to make loans to Ireland up to a total of £3.25 billion. It also allows for this limit to be increased by statutory instrument, which would require the approval of the House of Commons (though not if it is raised simply to take into account any exchange rate fluctuations between the pound and the Euro that might occur between 9 December 2010 and 20 January 2011).
The Act also requires the Treasury to publish a report about the loans as soon as is practicable after 30 March 2011 (and every sixth months thereafter). The report must include details of:
Once the loans are fully repaid, no report has to be made.
Name for Irish State
The British and Irish governments had a dispute over their respective states' names that lasted about 60 years. It ended with the conclusion of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. Both governments now respect each side's name. The Act, given its title, is probably the clearest example of this rapprochement in British legislation. If equivalent legislation had been enacted before 1998, it would probably have been called the "Loans to the Republic of Ireland Act" but instead, the Irish side's official name is used throughout.