[caption id="attachment_69233" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="Michael Noonan."]
Ireland will not need a second bailout as the country will return to the global money markets this year, the country's finance chiefs have claimed.
Last week, several senior economists called on the Irish government to plan for another financial rescue package. However, both the taoiseach and finance minister have dismissed the suggestion.
In addition, the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA), which manages the national debt, insisted it was aiming for a re-entry into the global money markets this summer.
Chief Executive John Corrigan said it would be a phased re-entry.
"Since May we have met over 300 institutional investors in North America, Europe and Asia. In our dealings with investors we have noted that Ireland is gaining credit for the progress it is making," he said.
"Investors recognize that Ireland has a flexible open economy and is fully engaged in taking action to deal with its problems on the basis of the measures set out in the European Union/International Monetary Fund program. However, a resolution of the wider eurozone sovereign debt and banking crisis is critical to restoring investor confidence and positioning the NTMA for a return to the markets."
Although Taoiseach Enda Kenny admitted that Ireland faced "very significant economic challenges," he said he believed "positive results" were finally coming from the austerity program introduced in the wake of the financial crisis.
"We are not yet at a point where market confidence in the euro has been restored," he said.
"We must ensure that more binding, durable and enforceable fiscal rules go hand-in-hand with funding certainty for countries pursuing sound and sustainable economic policies.
"We need to keep pushing forward towards a comprehensive solution to the challenges of the eurozone. And beyond that we absolutely must start creating the conditions and environment for a return to economic growth and job creation across the European Union."
Finance Minister Michael Noonan echoed these sentiments, suggesting Ireland had enough money to fully fund the country for almost two years.
"It's ludicrous to be talking about a second bailout when we are in and meeting all the targets of the first program," he said.
"We're a year into a rescue program which was negotiated by the previous government and we are fully funded into the back end of 2013. It's really speculation by economists who at the start of the new year speculate on these matters."
