Ireland bail-out details expected on Sunday

Finance ministers to hold conference call on size and conditions of deal.

EU finance ministers are likely to give the go-ahead to Ireland’s €85 billion bail-out on Sunday.

Officials say the announcement will be made after ministers hold a telephone conference.

Talks on the bail-out have been taking place in Dublin since last week between the Irish government and representatives from the European Commission, European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The finance ministers will talk about how much of the bail-out will be funded from the €60bn European Financial Stability Mechanism (EFSM), how much will come from the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), to which the EU has contributed €440bn, and how much from €250bn available from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Ireland, the EU and the IMF have to agree to the conditions attached to the bail-out, which would include plans to restructure Ireland’s beleaguered banking system.

The deal would come four days after the Irish government announced its four-year austerity programme, which aims to make €15bn worth of savings.

Finance ministers are only expected to talk about the Irish situation, with Portugal’s economic difficulties unlikely to come up for discussion.

A spokesman for the Portuguese government was this morning forced to deny reports that other eurozone countries and the ECB were putting pressure on the country to apply for a bail-out.

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