Daniel Gros: 'Not much Irish government can do'

Eurozone finance ministers will attempt to get on top of their debt crisis on Tuesday.

Their aim is to prevent a domino effect where the weakest members topple confidence in the whole bloc. Talks will focus on Ireland where bank bail-outs have pushed this year's deficit to an estimated 32% of GDP - nearly 11 times the EU's official limit. Dublin is resisting a bail-out, saying its short-term borrowing needs are covered.

However, that is causing problems for Portugal. Its projected debt ratio is a much lower 7.3% but it has had to raise new funds this month paying a premium price in the process.

Daniel Gros, director of the Centre for European Policy Studies, stresses that the ''problems of Portugal are quite different from Ireland''.