Leaders of Ireland’s three main parties pledged on Monday to oppose any trade deal with Mercosur countries which could damage Irish exports if EU standards of production are not adhered to, reports the Irish Times.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a 22.5 billion Euros loan for Ireland and said it was open to re-negotiating parts of the bailout package with a new government provided its overall targets were adhered to.
Ireland's parliament on Wednesday approved (81 to 75) a multi-billion Euro EU/IMF bailout package in the face of opposition threats to renegotiate the deal to force losses on some senior bondholders in Irish banks.
The Euro has fallen against the dollar and major European markets have dropped sharply, a day after ministers agreed a bail-out for the Irish Republic. On Sunday, European ministers reached agreement over a bail-out worth about 85bn Euros.
European ministers reached Sunday an agreement over a bail-out for the Irish Republic worth about 85 billion Euros. The deal will see 35bn euros go towards propping up the Irish banking system with the remaining 50bn euros to help the government's day-to-day spending.
The Irish government has unveiled a range of tough austerity measures designed to help solve the country's debt crisis. Among the spending cuts and tax rises are a reduction in the minimum wage, a new property tax and thousands of public sector job cuts.
Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen defied mounting pressure to quit and announced Monday he would stay in office until parliament passed an austerity budget needed to secure an IMF/EU bailout and then call an early election.
Ireland became the second Euro country to seek a rescue as the cost of saving its banks threatened a rerun of the Greek debt crisis that destabilized the currency. The Euro rose and European bond risk fell Monday following the announcement of the package.
Ireland's banking problems are likely to have a direct effect on the United Kingdom's battered institutions. According to the Bank of International Settlements, UK banks have a total exposure to Irish lenders of 222 billion US dollars (£139bn).
Emergency talks were being held in Dublin overnight as fears about Ireland’s ailing banking system forced the deployment of a team from the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank.