Malta is expected to guarantee between €23m and €27 million of the assistance being given by the EU and the IMF to help out Ireland, Finance Minister Tonio Fenech told Parliament this evening.

He said this was far lower and very different from the €80 million which Malta was advancing to Greece as part of the EU-IMF loan to that country.

Mr Fenech gave the details when he spoke on the €85 billion bailout plan for Ireland, agreed yesterday at an EU finance ministers’ meeting.

Earlier, Labour MP Alfred Sant asked if the minister was ashamed that Malta and other countries were being asked to guarantee millions of euro to Ireland in order to save the Irish banks after they had gambled their funds.

Was it not shameful that Malta and other EU countries were imposing an interest rate of 5.8% and the people of Ireland were suffering cuts even to their minimum wage and pensions so that the banks and the euro could save face?

The interest rate and the measures that had been imposed were bringing Ireland to its knees, Dr Sant said. This was not a sustainable rescue package and, six months down the line, the problems would crop up again, as they were cropping up again in Greece.

Replying, Mr Fenech said the assistance was being given to the Irish government, not the banks. €50 billion were being given to the Irish government to enable it to meet its borrowing requirements for the next four years. The other €35 million were a contingency fund.

Should this assistance not be given, the Irish government’s borrowing costs would be astronomical and the government would not even be in a position to pay out salaries and pensions.

The assistance given to Ireland, therefore, was not something to be ashamed of. Rather, it was an act of solidarity to keep the Irish government going.

As for the nature of the austerity measures, Mr Fenech said they were decided by Irish government itself and not imposed by the EU.

Replying to a question by Charles Mangion (PL) Mr Fenech said Malta would be paid for its guarantees.