Ireland To Return To Bond Markets By 2013 – Kenny

The Taoiseach has said he hopes Ireland can return to the bond markets in late 2012, during his trip to Germany on Wednesday.

Speaking at a press conference after meeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Enda Kenny said the Government was determined to continue with reforms and that rumored changes to EU treaties would be "very challenging".

Mr Kenny was making his first official visit to Germany, and travelled to the Chancellor’s Office for a working lunch before a briefing on the progress being made by Ireland in building a sustainable economic recovery through "competitiveness and export-led growth", according to officials.

The Taoiseach and Chancellor also discussed the latest developments in the Euro zone and other key issues on the current EU agenda.

Emerging from the meetings, Mr Kenny said that Mrs Merkel had told him treaty change would mean a change in oversight of national budgets, but with some flexibility for an individual budget strategy.

In a move that could be interpreted as an attempt to convince the German Chancellor to keep Ireland within the eurozone, Mr Kenny pressed that Ireland had always complied with the conditions of membership of the EU and had never broken the growth and stability pact rules.

He also said there was clearly a disparity between the attitude of countries towards fiscal responsibility and fiscal discipline.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Mr Kenny said: "Our economy will grow again this year by about 1%, with our export sector driving our recovery. The journey ahead will be challenging but we are determined to regain our financial sovereignty as quickly as possible.

'Ireland and Germany remain strong partners, economically and within the European Union. We value the German commitment to Europe and Germany’s support for Ireland."

(DW)