LONDON (MNI) – Ireland’s government will fully engage with their
Eurozone partners in the current talks process, Ireland’s Finance
Minister Brian Lenihan said Wednesday.
Talking to Ireland’s RTE radio, Lenihan confirmed that officials
from the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International
Monetary Fund would arrive in Dublin on Thursday. Lenihan said the talks
were set to discuss the underlying structures of the Irish banking
system.
Lenihan added that the IMF was coming as it had far more experience
and technical expertise in the matter of banking crises. However, he
reiterated that the banking system was not going to bring down either
the Irish or the Eurozone economies.
He also stressed that at talks in Brussels last night, he had been
“very careful” not to make any formal applications for aid, adding that
no one was at the stage of discussing the size or cost of any potential
bailout.
Lenihan confirmed that the Irish budget will be presented on
December 7, saying it was difficult to bring the date forward, as there
was a need to see the final tax receipts for November.
However, he said the “four-year plan” would be considered by the
government this week and would be presented to the public before the end
of the month.
He also confirmed that the Eurogroup had not discussed Ireland’s
budgetary measures and that there was no suggestion of any increase to
the mooted spending cuts of E15 billion.
–London ++207 862 7499, ukeditorial@marketnews.com
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