Eurozone plans possible Irish bailout

Simon Tilford, the chief economist for the London-based Centre for European Reform, says a request from Ireland for other eurozone members to stabilise the Irish banking sector essentially amounts to support for the Irish state budget: "Investors have started to shun Irish government debt because they are worried about the [possible] liabilities in the country's banking sector - because the Irish government has essentially underwritten the debts of the private banks," Tilford explains. "The underlying problem is one of excessive indebtedness, whether that is public or private, and question marks over the [Irish] economy's ability to grow rapidly enough to service those debts."