European
finance ministers have met in Brussels, but say
they did not hold detailed discussions on a potential bail-out for the Irish Republic.
Didier
Reynders, who chaired the talks, said the situation was not addressed because
the Irish government had not requested financial help.
“There’s
no reason to ask all the participants for an answer because we did not receive
a question,” he said.
But
he stressed that the EU was “ready to act” if needed.
Mr
Reynders, the Belgian finance minister, was chairing the meeting of the
Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin), on behalf of the Belgian presidency.
He
said that there were differences between the Irish situation and the position Greece found
itself in earlier this year, when it received an EU-IMF rescue package.
“This
time we’re concerned about a country, but there’s no request from that
country,” he said.
“It’s
a major difference between this case and the Greece case because we have
instruments [to act],” he added.
He also
said that it was difficult for the European Central Bank (ECB) to go further in
the provision of liquidity to Irish banks.
Once
known as the “Celtic tiger” because of the strength of its economic
boom, the Republic has since suffered the deepest recession of any country in
the developed world, including collapsing property prices and a deeply-indebted
banking sector.
EU
economic and monetary affairs commissioner Olli Rehn said the Irish government
was committed to the technical discussions taking place with the EU, the ECB
and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
These
discussions focus on the plan to reduce the budget deficit over the next four
years and to stabilise the banking sector.
“The
Irish authorities are commited to intensify this work,” he said.
Mr
Rehn also sought to clarify the situation regarding Greece’s
bail-out, following concerns raised by Austria
that Greece had not
fulfilled its obligations under the EU-backed aid package, as well as reports
that Austria
had yet to submit its December contribution to the bail-out.
“A
decision on the third instalment for Greece should be taken in December
by the 14 participating euro area member states that participate in the loan
scheme. But the disbursement has always been seen for January next year,”
he said.
“The
decision is in December, the disbursement in January, so there is no
delay.”
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