Irish debt agency aims to have more than 10 bln euros cash at end of 2017

DUBLIN, March 8 (Reuters) - Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) 's debt agency aims to have at least 10 billion euros in cash in its coffers at the end of 2017 to help it prepare for a sharp rise in its refinancing needs over the next three years, its head of funding said on Wednesday.

"We keep quite a substantial cash balance. At the end of February it was close to 15 billion, and at the end of the year we're targeting it to be in excess of 10 billion," the National Treasury Management Agency's Frank O'Connor told a parliamentary committee.

Dublin has just over 6 billion euros of debt maturing in 2017, but that figure climbs to more than 50 billion from 2018 to 2020.

The interest rate environment during that period will be critical in determining the long-term overall cost of Ireland's national debt, NTMA chief executive Conor O'Kelly added. (Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Hugh Lawson)