Ireland's EU Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn has said she didn't know whether Ireland's bailout deal was sustainable.
Speaking to reporters in Brussels, Mrs Geoghegan-Quinn said it was too early to say, but she added that the Government was fully engaged with its EU partners to ensure that any new arrangement would be the best deal possible for Ireland.
‘We won't know if (the current deal) is a good deal or not for some time,' Mrs Geoghegan-Quinn said.
'But if Ireland wasn't part of the EU and the eurozone, where would we be now? The situation would be much, much worse,’ she said.
Mrs Geoghegan-Quinn said she was disappointed at the recent tendency in Ireland to blame 'Brussels' for the current financial crisis.
She described the practice as similar to the way politicians in the west of Ireland blamed 'Dublin' for its woes.
'Brussels' was made up of a range of EU institutions including the European Commission, she said.
'The European Commission has always been supportive of Ireland,' she said.
Mrs Geoghegan-Quinn, who is Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, said Ireland had received research grants to the tune of €600m under the Commission's 'FP 7' research funding programme.
She is to address the Dáil next Monday as part of a programme of events marking Europe Day.
The invitation was extended by the Taoiseach and the Ceann Comhairle.
Ireland's 12 MEPs are also to address the Dáil.
