LISBON SUMMIT:THE US promised "moral support" for the State as the Government prepared to apply for emergency loans from the EU and the IMF.
European leaders and US president Barack Obama discussed the looming bailout at an EU/US summit in Lisbon, while Ireland’s difficulties also surfaced on the fringes of the Nato summit.
French president Nicolas Sarkozy said an increase in the 12.5 per cent corporation tax rate would not be set as a condition for the rescue aid, but the Government “must use all means at its disposal” to repair its finances.
Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt also raised the prospect of a bilateral loan to Ireland, a move that follows a pledge of unspecific aid from Britain.
Mr Sarkozy told reporters there would be “no strings attached” to a bailout deal when asked if higher corporation tax would be a condition for aid.
“First of all France wishes to pay tribute to the unprecedented efforts made by the Irish authorities in order to clean up the Irish banking books and their own books,” Mr Sarkozy said.
German chancellor Angela Merkel avoided answering the question of whether the tax should be increased in return for aid.
“Every country that’s in need of this mechanism can use it,” she said, without referring directly to Ireland. “Everything beyond that is the decision of each individual country.”
Sweden is not in the euro zone but Mr Rheinfeld said on RTÉ his government would consider bilateral aid if asked. Sweden has previously lent to Iceland and Latvia.