Ireland targets 're-entry' to bond markets

DUBLIN - Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan said he is targeting "full re-entry" to the bond market by mid-2013, as the country seeks to wean itself off an international bailout.

The country's treasury agency plans to step up issuance of short-term debt in the second half of 2012, and follow this up with "some longer-term issuance" later in the year, markets conditions allowing, Noonan said on Wednesday.

Ireland is pressing on with its deficit-reduction plans as European leaders try to resolve the eurozone debt crisis that's put the top credit ratings of Germany and France at risk. Noonan said there is an "urgency" needed as officials draft the framework of new fiscal rules agreed to at a summit in Brussels last week.