The president of the European Parliament, Mr Pat Cox, has said he did not discuss Ireland's seat on the European Commission when he met the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, on Wednesday night.
While the current Commissioner, Mr David Byrne, has not said publicly whether he wants a second term, Mr Cox will be in the running if a vacancy arises when the current term of office expires in the middle of next year.
He said there had been no discussion with Mr Ahern or anyone else about the position. "I'm here to do a job. I'm not here to apply for job."
Mr Cox was speaking last evening at the end of a two-day official visit to Ireland.
He met the President Mrs McAleese yesterday after making an address to the Seanad, where other MEPs also made presentations. In addition to his meeting with Mr Ahern, he also met the leaders of the Opposition parties.
On the decision by EU finance ministers to breach the Stability and Growth Pact, he said he was guided by the financial markets in saying that it would not damage the valuation of the euro.
The markets were a better barometer of currency valuations than politicians, he said. Most currency analysts had already accounted for a breach of the pact in their projections before this week.
Stating that the pact was in the "hospital ward", he said lessons would be have to learned and applied about the breach. "If Europe gave up on the stability culture then I think there would be a problem." He said the economies of France and Germany were showing only "fragile" growth. EU fines on these countries for their breaches of the pact would not be in their own interest, he added.
