Finance Minister Brian Lenihan has said Europe is determined to address the Irish debt crisis with Ireland.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Lenihan said there was determination by the Government to engage in a short and focused consultation with the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which will take place in Dublin tomorrow.
He said the IMF was involved because it had more experience than the ECB in dealing with banks which have caused difficulties, and which are at the centre of the Irish debt problem.
Mr Lenihan arrived in Brussels yesterday evening for talks on Ireland's debt crisis with other EU finance ministers, which continue today. There will be an EU news conference at midday.
Mr Lenihan said the other EU governments had endorsed the Government's Budget plans and its approach to dealing with the banks.
The minister said it was only right that institutions that may get involved in providing funds for Ireland to tackle its banking and fiscal crisis should be able to establish the facts on the ground for themselves.
But he said Ireland had not applied for any funding and it was not certain that the country would seek funding from the EU and IMF in the wake of the joint mission.
Earlier, Chairman of the Eurogroup Jean-Claude Juncker said the Irish Government has to make a definite decision on this in the coming days.
Klaus Regling, who heads the European Financial and Stability Fund, said he had toured investors in Asia and the US and said he was confident he could raise money in a matter of days if a country applied for funding.
Britain ready to provide support
Britain stands ready to participate in any eurozone and IMF efforts to rescue Ireland's beleaguered banking sector, Britain's Finance Minister George Osborne said today.
European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn also said a potential British role in a bailout was 'under discussion'.
Mr Osborne told reporters ahead of the meeting of EU finance ministers that London, which is not part of the eurozone but is a member of the wider EU, would do 'what is in Britain's national interest'.
'Ireland is our closest neighbour. And it's in Britain's national interest that the Irish economy is successful and we have a stable banking system,' he said. 'So Britain stands ready to support Ireland,' Mr Osborne added.
