Upon a request by Ireland, the Council granted financial assistance to it by means of Implementing Decision 2011/77/EU2 in support of a strong economic and financial reform programme aiming at restoring confidence, enabling the economy to return to sustainable growth, and safeguarding financial stability in Ireland, the euro area and the Union.

In line with Article 3(9) of Implementing Decision 2011/77/EU, the European Commission, together with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and in liaison with the European Central Bank (ECB), has conducted the eighth review of the Irish authorities’ progress on the implementation of the agreed measures as well as of the effectiveness and economic and social impact of those measures.

Significant progress has been made towards the programme’s bank deleveraging objectives. Specifically, two domestic banks have either already met or are well on their way towards meeting the 122,5 % loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) target, originally envisaged to be met by the end of 2013. The remaining domestic bank has completed some non-core asset disposals and its programme deleveraging requirements will be reassessed following a decision on its restructuring plan by the European Commission.

In view of that significant progress, a modification of the programme’s monitoring framework for banks’ deleveraging towards nominal non-core asset disposal targets and advanced monitoring designed to ensure that banks improve their net stable funding ratios (NSFRs) and their liquidity coverage ratios (LCRs) would contribute to avoiding any undue distortion in banks’ deposit pricing and prepare banks for compliance with Basel III liquidity requirements.

In light of those developments and considerations, Implementing Decision 2011/77/EU should be amended,