STEVEN CARROLL
The Taoiseach Brian Cowen is to deliver a statement on the economy to the D�il at around 5pm, a Government spokesman has said .
The move comes as the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank are continuing to work on a solution for the Irish banking sector, EU economic and monetary affairs commissioner Olli Rehn confirmed.
"We are discussing with both the ECB and the IMF and of course the Irish," Mr Rehn told reporters in Brussels today ahead of a meeting of euro zone finance ministers (Ecofin).
"The real problems are in the banking sector," not with the [Irish] Government, "but these are connected," he said. "We have a very strong focus on the banking sector," Mr Rehn said.
German finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said his government would not urge Ireland to seek aid from the EU bailout fund as EU countries should not prescribe to each other what to do amid the sovereign debt crisis. He was speaking in Brussels.
Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan will attend the meeting at which the recent escalation of euro zone debt market tensions will top the agenda.
Minister of State for Europe Dick Roche this morning said Europe should not panic about Ireland needing a bailout as there is no need for the State to trigger international support mechanisms.
Mr Roche said reports Ireland had applied for assistance were just speculation and said he hoped there would be ?more logic? in discussions about Irish finances following a meeting of the 16 euro zone finance ministers (Ecofin) in Brussels this evening.
Mr Roche told BBC Radio 4 that ?there is no reason why? Ireland should trigger an ?IMF or EU-type bailout?.
?There is a problem with liquidity in banks, but I don?t think the appropriate response to that would be for European finance ministers to panic,? he said.
EU president Herman Van Rompuy said he was confident Europe would overcome its debt crisis.
"We are in a survival crisis," he said at a conference in Brussels. "If we don't survive with the euro zone we will not survive with the European Union."
European Central Bank vice-president Vitor Constancio said Ireland had not yet asked for financial aid and that if it did so the move would not necessarily force other countries such as Portugal or Spain to follow suit.
Mr Constancio said it was up to Ireland to ask for aid if it believed it would help to stabilise financial markets.
Asked whether Ireland could simply use the EU's ?60 billion European Financial Stability Mechanism rather than the ?440 billion European Financial Stability Fund, he said: "It could be used as a starting point . . . but the way it is seen is that it is part of a package."
Mr Constancio said it was not inevitable that Portugal or even Spain would have to tap to European aid if Ireland did, although it could not be predicted whether markets pressure would turn on them.
Taoiseach Brian Cowen last night said an application was not being made because the country was already funded right up to the middle of next year.
Mr Cowen accepted that the cost of money for Ireland on the bond markets was high but the issue would be discussed by Mr Lenihan at today?s Ecofin meeting.
?I have a job to do which is to ensure we do the right thing by the country,? said Mr Cowen, who added that Ireland would sit down with its EU partners and discuss ?how we underpin banking and financial stability in the medium and long term.?
The amount the State pays to borrow money increased this morning as the yield on Irish 10-year bonds again passed 8 per cent, having fallen slightly yesterday.
Euro group chief Jean-Claude Juncker has tried to damp down pressure on the Government ahead of the finance ministers? meeting tonight, saying the Irish authorities were ??not near the point where they would ask for external help?.
Speaking in Brussels, Mr Juncker said the euro zone would support Ireland is it requested financial assistance.
"We are in a position to wait if yes or no Ireland will put forward a request," he said. "If Ireland did so I don't doubt a second that the eurogroup will be supportive to Ireland but we'll have to check in the course of the afternoon."
Additional reporting: Agencies�
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