The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) held an auction of Irish Government bonds on Tuesday 15 September. Two bonds were offered in the auction, the 4.0% Treasury Bond 2014 and the 4.5% Treasury Bond 2020. The overall total amount of the two bonds offered in the auction was in the range of €750 million to €1 billion  and the latter was the amount raised to fell the red ink gap in the Irish public finances.

Total bids were received for €2,760 billion and it was decided to issue a total of €1 billion. An amount of €300 million of the 4.0% Treasury Bond 2014 was issued where the total bids received were 4.0 times the amount allocated, while €700 million of the 4.5% Treasury Bond 2020 was also issued where the total bids received were 2.3 times the amount allocated.

The 2014 bond was sold at an average yield of 3.312% while the 2020 bond was sold at an average yield of 4.913%.

The NTMA sales programme has raised close to €25 billion required to meet funding requirements of €20 billion announced in the Emergency Budget on April 7th and refinance a €5 billion bond that matured in April. Some €16 billion was raised through three syndicated bond issues in January, February and June, and €7.7 billion through seven bond auctions held between March and September.

In recent months the success in raising borrowing has been viewed as a success, even though it actually reflects how far Ireland's fortunes have plummeted in a short time.

SEE: Interest on Irish national debt will take 18.7% of tax revenues in 2013

Last week, UCD economist Colm McCarthy, who chaired the Bord Snip review of public spending, said the country is bust.

Asked about the plan by public sector unions and representative bodies to oppose the spending review recommendations on cuts, McCarthy said: “A small reality is this country is bust. There is no shortage of compassion; there is a shortage of money. We are borrowing €400 million per week and a big component is the public sector payroll.”

Speaking this morning ahead of tomorrow afternoon's Dáil debate on the planned "bad bank," the National Asset Management Agency (NAMA), which at least for some years will result in a big hike in public borrowings, Taoiseach Brian Cowen refused to discuss the valuation that the agency will place on the €90 billion in loans which are to be purchased from covered financial institutions.

However, he claimed that taxpayers would benefit over time from the scheme - - he of course simply does not know what the outcome will be. "Of course the entire purpose of the National Assest Management Agency is to extend credit into the economy and without a viable banking system we can't do that," he said.

"When we come to the second stage of the debate Brian Lenihan will set out in detail how it is we intend to ensure the restructuring of the banking system to facilitate bringing this country back to growth and extend credit and get people to continue doing their business," Cowen told RTÉ radio this morning.

"What we are making sure is that the IOUs which will be provided by the agency enables the bank to get access to credits from the Central Bank and over a period of time, in the years ahead, we will ensure that the value comes back into those assets and we ensure that the taxpayers interests are protected," he added.