Taoiseach Enda Kenny had an hour-long meeting in Rome with the Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti this morning.
After the talks, Mr Kenny was asked about the upcoming summit of EU leaders in Brussels next week, and negotiations on expanding the euro zone bail-out fund, the ESM.
Mr Kenny said his firm view was that there needed to be a sufficiently high firewall put in place to reassure financial markets.
Asked if German Chancellor Angela Merkel had expressed a view on the issue during their meeting near Berlin last night, Mr Kenny would say only that she "listened carefully".
The Taoiseach said there was "no change" on tax harmonisation and Ireland's corporate tax rate remained unaltered.
Mr Monti said the two leaders had a useful exchange of views on jobs and growth. The Italian Prime Minister said that the Irish economy was proof for Italians that tough reform measures can be difficult to take, but will boost recovery.
Both Ireland and Italy would like the bail-out fund, the ESM, to be increased from its current size of €500 billion, but Germany remains reluctant to allocate any new funds.
