THE TAOISEACH HAS MET WITH European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso to begin pushing for a reduced interested rate on Ireland’s bailout deal, saying that the current terms are too tough to fix the country’s debt crisis.

Kenny travelled to Brussels today ahead of tomorrow’s 27-nation EU summit which is to focus on the continuing eurozone debt crisis which has seen Ireland and Greece receive financial assistance packages from the EU and IMF.

Ahead of his meeting, Kenny said he would tell Barroso that the bailout must be reworked to provide some flexibility for Ireland:

I’m going to say to him that the process we’re in was designed to sort out a problem. And in its current structure and current state, it’s not going to sort out that problem.

After the hour-long meeting, a spokesperson for Barroso said the Commission head had said he understood that the interest rate was an important issue for Ireland and the Commission supports the country on it, RTÉ reports.

Ireland’s former Attorney General and EU Commissioner Peter Sutherland has called on the EU to review the terms of Ireland’s bailout deal, saying the current interest rate is “exorbitant” and “probably unsustainable”.

Today, the CSO reported that annual inflation reached 2.2 per cent last month - the biggest monthly rise since November 2008.

- Includes reporting from the AP