VZCZCXRO5914
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHDL #1326 3170827
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 130827Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY DUBLIN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7694
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES
RUEATRS/TREASURY WASHDC
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS

UNCLAS DUBLIN 001326 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EFIN ECON IZ EI
SUBJECT: IRELAND TO WRITE OFF NEARLY ALL IRAQI DEBT 
 
REF: A. STATE 181094 
 
     ¶B. YOUNG-WEBSTER E-MAIL OF 11/8/06 
 
(SBU) The Irish Government is in the process of forgiving 
roughly 90 percent of remaining Iraqi debt, according to 
Gerry Wrynn, Department of Enterprse, Trade, and Employment 
(DETE) Bilateral TradeUnit officer, to whom A/DCM delivered 
ref A demache on November 9.  Wrynn noted that DETE had 
opeated an export credit insurance scheme for many yers to 
assist Irish exporters who were trading inemerging markets. 
DETE provided a significant potion of this insurance to 
companies selling good, mainly beef, to Iraq.  After the 
Iraqi invasionof Kuwait, many Iraqi companies defaulted on 
debs owed to Irish export firms.  DETE paid the Irishfirms 
for the losses covered and effectively becme the owner of 
the debt.  The new Iraqi adminisration, said Wrynn, has 
offered to repay 10 percet of this original debt plus 
limited interest to a number of creditors, including Ireland. 
 DETE has accepted the offer and, over the last three years, 
has received roughly euro 4.5 million in settlement of the 
previous debt, either directly from the Iraqi administration 
or from selling the debt in advance on the open market. 
Wrynn explained that Ireland held no other forms of Iraqi 
debt, as A/DCM also confirmed with the Department of Foreign 
Affairs and the Department of Finance. 
FOLEY