Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore has said the political turmoil in Italy underlines the merits of stability in his own Government.
His remarks about the situation in Rome come amid rancour over the budget on the Government back benches.
“I think what we’re seeing in Italy is what happens when there is political instability. It’s not the first time we’ve seen it,” Mr Gilmore said.
“We’ve seen in respect of other countries and that is why it is so important that we have a stable government in Ireland. It’s been one of the strengths we have in dealing with this economic crisis.
“When you have instability it feeds into market sentiment, and it feeds into the general economy of the country concerned, and it feeds into Europe at a wider level.”
Mr Gilmore was speaking in Brussels after a meeting with European Council president Herman Van Rompuy.
He anticipates that an EU summit this week in Brussels will settle new powers for the European Central Bank to supervise banks, a precondition for the ESM rescue fund to directly rescue stricken banks.
He also said unresolved questions over the treatment of legacy or historic debts must be settled early in 2013.
While Germany and its allies do not want the ESM to bear any historic banking debts, Mr Gilmore insisted it was feasible to strike a deal on this question within the three-month deadline Mr Van Rompuy suggests.
On whether his colleague Pat Rabbitte was wise to declare that a €3.1 billion Anglo Irish Bank debt due next March would not be paid, Mr Gilmore said the Government was determined to resolve the issue before then.
