Government to push Germany on bank debt

The Taoiseach and ministers will this week push their German counterparts for a deal to help offload some of Ireland’s €64bn bank debt.

Enda Kenny will travel to Berlin on Thursday for talks with German chancellor Angela Merkel. The meeting comes after Ms Merkel’s comments at a recent EU summit that seemed to dampen hopes of backdated bank debts being addressed in a deal. She later said Ireland was a “special case”.

European Affairs Minister Lucinda Creighton yesterday confirmed Mr Kenny would be pushing for commitment on such a deal.