There is nothing to stop the Government moving a surplus from the Exchequer (i.e. central treasury) a/c to the NTMA and instruct it to pay off national debt. This is achieved through redeeming government bonds or buying back other debt.
I don’t know if the government can instruct the NTMA to buy back specific debts like the EFSF / EFSM loans. Also, it may not be wise to do so as greater savings might be achieved by redeeming other debt, and the NTMA is the competent authority for decision making in this area. However, this being Ireland, the Government may decide that, rather than redeem the EFSF loans, funds can be better used through e.g. ‘investing’ in vanity projects or buying votes by increased public expenditure on vocal interest groups.
The other issue is that the EFSF / EFSM debts are back-loaded. This means that most of the capital repayments on these loans are scheduled for a late repayment period, i.e. from 2029 to 2042, so unless capable of renegotiation they probably cannot be paid off until maturity. When will Ireland have to repay the EFSF loans? | European Stability Mechanism