The Oireachtas has been told that there is a 100% chance that Ireland will be hit by another recession.

The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) is appearing before the Public Accounts Committee this morning.

In his opening statement the agency's CEO Conor O'Kelly said Ireland has paid out €60bn in interest payments on the national debt in the ten years since the last financial crash.

He said that while the "day-to-day signs of financial distress that were all too prominent" during the darkest days of the recession have largely disappeared, the underlying legacy of the crash "will be with us for a long time" due to the heavy borrowing the country was forced into during the crisis.

National debt

He noted that Ireland's national debt current stands at over €200bn - one of the highest levels relative to population in the Eurozone.

As a result, the country will feel the worst impacts of any future increase in interest levels.

Recession

He said there are many threats to Ireland's economy on the horizon.

"We are in the permanent contingency in Ireland with the debt that we have," he said.

"Whether it is Brexit or Italy or something, more than likely, that we can't even think of today that will end up hitting.

"People talk about whether the bond market is predicting a recession or whoever else is predicting a recession; I'll go you a prediction of a recession - the chances of a recession in Ireland are 100%."

Interest

Ireland paid out nearly €6bn in interest alone last year - down from a high of €7.4bn in 2014.

Mr O'Kelly said that figure likely to fall to €4.5 billion by 2020.

However, the NTMA is faced with the prospect of having to refinance cheap debt at far higher rates as early as 2022 - when bonds that are currently funded at 08% and 0% will have to be replaced.

The Government is this year replacing a different set of bonds with coupons funded at 4.4% and 5.9%.