Ireland 'will be a net contributor' to EU's recovery fund, says Taoiseach

The Taoiseach Micheál Martin is at a meeting of the leaders of the 27 EU countries in Brussels negotiating the details of the plan to help the EU's economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic. Photo: AP

Ireland will be a "net contributor" to the EU's €750bn Covid-19 recovery fund, according to the Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

Leaders are meeting in Brussels for a second day of negotiations, with little sign of progress so far.

Mr Martin said Ireland understands the need for a "dramatic" and "impactful" set of supports.

He also said that the country will be putting more into the fund than we get back.

The Taoiseach said: "We're saying that Europe has to recover because we're an exporting nation, we want a European-wide recovery because that will help to underpin an Ireland-wide recovery.

"That's the kind of stance we're taking as opposed to looking to how much we get back.

"We will be a net contributor at the end of the day out of all of this in any event.

He added that "the big picture" is that Europe "needs to do something dramatic and something impactful" collectively with regard to raising and allocating funds to get an economic recovery going.

The summit continues today after leaders of the 27 EU countries reached a deadlock during discussions on Friday.