Noonan to push for debt deal

Finance minister Michael Noonan will meet his counterparts in France, Germany and Italy individually next week as Dublin steps up its push to strike a deal on easing the terms of its costly bank bailout by next month.

Eurozone leaders agreed at their summit in June to look at improving Ireland’s bank rescue, a commitment that has pushed Irish bond yields down sharply and allowed Dublin to raise long-term debt for the first time since it secured an EU/IMF bailout almost two years ago.

Mr Noonan will travel to Paris on Wednesday and Berlin and Rome a day later ahead of a meeting of European finance ministers in Cyprus on Friday.