Minister for Finance Michael Noonan is on his way to Frankfurt for talks with the President of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi.
Earlier today he held 30 minutes of talks with the European Commission Vice President Olli Rehn, but was very cautious about disclosing the detail of what was discussed.
Mr Noonan said: "There is no progress that I'm reporting because it was a confidential meeting."
The focus of the discussions is the government's bid to lower the portion of Ireland's debt burden which relates to the bailout of our banks, in particular the thirty billion euro of Anglo-Irish promissory notes.
Mr Noonan told journalists: "It's too early to say it we'll be successful or not. We're not putting any deadline on it. It's not the meetings themselves - we're involved in a process, and we'll move it onto the political side in the next couple of weeks."
He added: "We've always believed that the promissory note (deal) in Anglo Irish (Bank) made by the previous government was a very expensive deal and we're trying to see if it can be re-engineered."
Asked about the controversial fiscal treaty on budget discipline in the eurozone, the Minister said he was feeling "pretty good" about the Finance Ministers recommendations, saying that a new draft of the deal was being produced for EU leaders to examine at their summit next week.
Asked about the EU pressure exerted on Greece, Mr Noonan said: "We have our own difficulties in Ireland. We wish Greece and Portugal well. We hope they work out their difficulties. But we're not going to comment on their negotiations."
