The Loans to Ireland Act 2010 (c. 41) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act allows HM Treasury

HM Treasury

HM Treasury, in full Her Majesty's Treasury, informally The Treasury, is the United Kingdom government department responsible for developing and executing the British government's public finance policy and economic policy...

 to loan up to £3,250 million (£3.25 billion; €3,835 million/€3.84 billion) Approximation, on 21 December 2010 to the Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland

Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

, as part of an €85 billion European Union bailout package.

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

House of Lords

The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....

 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

Statutory Instrument

A Statutory Instrument is the principal form in which delegated or secondary legislation is made in Great Britain.Statutory Instruments are governed by the Statutory Instruments Act 1946. They replaced Statutory Rules and Orders, made under the Rules Publication Act 1893, in 1948.Most delegated...

, which would require the approval of the House of Commons (though not if it is raised simply to take into account any exchange rate

Exchange rate

In finance, an exchange rate between two currencies is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another. It is also regarded as the value of one country’s currency in terms of another currency...

 fluctuations between the pound

Pound sterling

The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...

 and the Euro

Euro

The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...

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:

• any payments made by the Treasury by way of a loan in that period,
• any sums received by the Treasury in that period by way of repayment of principal or the payment of interest in respect of a loan,
• the aggregate amount of principal and interest in respect of loans which is outstanding at the end of that period,
• the remaining term of each loan which is outstanding at the end of that period, and
• the original term of each loan in respect of which a payment was made by the Treasury by way of a loan in that period.

Once the loans are fully repaid, no report has to be made.

External links

• Loans to Ireland Bill – official page on UK Parliament website