Are Post Office savings covered by the bank guarantee in Ireland? If so, up to what amount? How long does the guarantee last, and is it likely to be renewed?
NTMA State Savings are a component of the sovereign debt of Ireland
The term "Post Office Savings" is not accurate - if you check the published annual accounts of the post office (An Post) you will notice there is no statistics on "Post Office Savings" at all.
The reason for this is that the post office is an agent of the NTMA (National Treasury Management Agency) in respect of State Savings. The post office provide a counter service to collect savings money on behalf of the Government and the post office immediately, every day, hand all savings money over to the Government under the management of the National Treasury Management Agency where it is known as "NTMA State Savings" which includes Prize Bonds.
"NTMA State Savings" are accounted for in the annual accounts of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) and are a component of the sovereign debt of Ireland.
1. Protection of the NTMA State Savings - When you place your money in NTMA State Savings you are placing your money directly with the Irish Government and for this reason you are already comprehensively protected by the Irish Government because
· There is no upper limit on the amount of your money that is protected by the Irish Government
· There is no expiry or end date for this protection by the Irish Government
2. The Bank Guarantee - Money up to €100,000 in certain Irish banks is protected by a guarantee supplied by the Irish Government to those banks. Amounts above €100,000 in certain banks are also protected under a separate ELG scheme (Eligible Liabilities Guarantee Scheme) for a period up to 5 years.
Therefore the Government guarantee of the banks does not offer you any additional protection over and above the absolute unconditional protection by the Government that you already enjoy in respect of the NTMA State Savings products.
In line with the normal practice in the sovereign debt markets Ireland has never issued any debt with either a preferred status or a subordinated status relative to any other debt it has issued, i.e. all debt issued by Ireland ranks pari passu and enjoys identical status. NTMA State Savings products rank equally with all other components that makes up the sovereign debt of Ireland.
The NTMA's website ( www.StateSavings.ie) has a brochure on the home page which explains everything and lists all the "NTMA State Savings" products which include Prize Bonds, Savings Bonds, Savings Certificates, Instalment Savings, Deposit Accounts (such as the Ordinary Deposit Account and the Deposit Account Plus) and National Solidarity Bonds.