Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has told the Foreign Affairs Committee that it is very important agreement is reached on the EU budget by the end of next month.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs told committee members that his big concern is that attention will shift to other issues if the budget is not resolved before the end of June.
Mr Gilmore said that it was not just about agreeing figures, but also about the creation of jobs.
The Tánaiste also told the committee that good progress was being made on the establishment of a banking union.
He said that agreement on the single supervisory mechanism is very significant because once in place, it will allow the ECB to take over supervision by next March.
Fianna Fáil's Timmy Dooley raised the issue of over-regulation of Ireland's financial sector.
Mr Dooley said that there does not seem to be a uniformity of application of European-wide regulation.
He said that because of this banks such as Goldman Sachs have handed back banking licences, but then go on to set up in other jurisdictions because it is easier.
