Taoiseach Enda Kenny has reiterated his confidence in getting a deal on promissory notes before the end of March.
Such a move was central to the Government’s plan for 2013 to exit the EU-IMF bailout programme “successfully”, he said.
“I am confident that we will secure a deal before the end of March, which is the payment date for the next €3 billion.”
Asked what would happen if the Government did not get such a deal, Mr Kenny said he was “always” an optimist.
“I don’t contemplate not getting a deal here,” he told RTÉ Radio’s This Week programme. Failure would make it “very difficult” for the Government to exit the bailout programme “with a degree of clarity that we need”.
He said teams led by Minister for Finance Michael Noonan had been working with the European Central Bank for the past 18 months.
Mr Kenny also ruled out a Cabinet reshuffle this year. “There will be no reshuffle of the Cabinet in 2013. The position here is that every Minister has an enormous work programme both with the [EU] presidency and the programme for government.”
Mr Kenny also expressed confidence in Minister for Health James Reilly.
