PM hopes Ireland to leave bailout this year

STRASBOURG, France Ireland's Prime Minister says he is determined that his country will exit its international bailout program before the end of the year and return to markets in order to refinance its debt.

Enda Kenny said Wednesday in an address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg that his government is getting its finances under control, and that the country's lower borrowing rates in the markets are a sign of rising investor confidence.

Ireland became the second country that uses the euro, after Greece, to get an international bailout in 2010 when its borrowing rates rose to unsustainable levels following a banking crisis.

In his speech marking the beginning of Ireland's rotating six month EU presidency Kenny said that his country's tenure "will be all about stability, jobs and growth."