Taoiseach Enda Kenny has called for a more flexible bailout package as Ireland tries to rid itself of debt troubles.

Mr Kenny has also called for the European Central Bank to be more accountable.

"We carry a heavy burden of debt. Without strong growth, questions of sustainability will remain," Mr Kenny told a special meeting of the Dáil.

"There is no doubt that a reduction in the interest rate on the monies we are borrowing from Europe would be a meaningful and appreciated measure."

European Union commissioner for science Maire Geoghegan-Quinn said the Commission "strongly supports" Ireland's campaign for a reduction in the interest rate of the country's bailout package.

"Significant decisions" will be made when euro zone and EU finance ministers meet between May 16th and May 17th, Ms Geoghegan- Quinn said today.

Speaking later at an event at Google's headquarters in Dublin, Mr Kenny rejected reports at the weekend that an interest rate cut of 1 percentage point on the bailout had already been agreed.

"No, that’s not so. Obviously, the position in so far as an interest rate reduction for Ireland is concerned has been devolved down to the ministers for finance.

"Agreement was reached at the heads of government meeting in Brussels that there would be a reduction rate applicable to the countries in the bailout deal. And that was agreed in principle. Obviously the stress tests for the banks had not been completed at that meeting, and so it was agreed that the ministers for finance would continue to work on that."

Mr Kenny said the matter would be discussed at the Ecofin meeting on May 16th and 17th but he could not say for sure if the rate issue would be finalised then.

"But obviously we have been pursuing this diligently and it may well be that a conclusion may be reached there," he said.

Asked what concessions he would like to see for Ireland other than a deal on the bailout interest rate, given that a new deal for Greece appared likely, Mr Kenny said: "We have always said that we would like to see the deal improved and Ireland [is] continuing to work on that. One element of that is an interest rate reduction. Beyond that, Ireland will continue to seek improvements in this deal as we’ve always said. That element will be pursued by the ministers for finance and by the heads of government."

Asked for his reaction to Prof Morgan Kelly's article in The Irish Times at the weekend, Mr Kenny said he had "no intention of delivering a lethal injection to the Irish economy by trying to bridge that extent of the deficit in one year".

Mr Kelly had argued that the Government should bring the budget immediately into balance as one strand of a strategy for "national survival".

The European Commission said it hoped to see a decision within weeks on reducing the rate charged to Ireland to make the bailout more sustainable.

"The commission is clearly in favour of a rate cut," a spokesman for EU economic and monetary affairs commissioner Olli Rehn said. "The commission is against debt restructuring."

The Government's bid for lower interest payments has so far been blocked by Germany and France, which want the country to drop its veto on harmonising the corporate tax base in Europe in exchange or raise its corporate tax rate from the current level of 12.5 per cent.

Ireland expects to end three years of economic contraction this year before racing to gross domestic product growth of 2.5 per cent next year and averaging 3 per cent growth between 2013 and 2015.

However the forecasts of the IMF and some economists are a touch more pessimistic, while Ireland's export led growth is dependent on favourable factors outside of its control.

Irish bonds fell this afternoon, with the yield on the two-year bond rising just under 1 per cent to 11.676 per cent. The yield on Irish 10-year bonds hit 10.64 per cent, having opened at 10.42 per cent, with the spread versus the benchmark Bund at 7.55 points.