Eurozone ministers are set to meet in Brussels as the debt crisis once again threatens the 16-member bloc's economic stability.

欧元区各国部长将于布鲁塞尔举行会谈，债务危机再次威胁到这16国集团的经济稳定性。

The talks come as the spotlight¹ once again falls on the weaker member countries, and whether they can manage their debt without help from European Union (EU) assistance funds.

The Irish Republic on Monday insisted it did not need EU help.

But there is intense speculation²（推测，思索） it may be forced to use EU bail³-out money.

Dublin said it was in contact with "international colleagues" but the Prime Minister, Brian Cowen, dismissed talk of a bail-out by the EU or IMF.

"One of the great pejorative⁴（轻蔑的，恶化的） phrases that continue to be used is this thing of bail out which suggests that the country is in some way seeking not to meet its obligations to meet its own debts - that is not the case," he said.

He added that his government had firm plans for sorting out the country's problems.

"In the coming weeks will be putting forward the plans that show how we put our budget back into order as a member of the Euro area," he said.

'Theoretical'

Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the Eurogroup of finance ministers, said the eurozone was ready to act "as soon as possible" if Ireland sought financial assistance.

But he stressed that "Ireland has not put forward their request".

"As long as they don't, we are not supposed to deal with a theoretical request," he said.

A spokesman for Economic and Monetary⁵ Affairs Commissioner⁶ Olli Rehn said that pressure on Dublin to take a bail-out was not coming from the European Commissioner, but from "another player".

Last week, market anxiety spread to other heavily indebted（负债的，感激的） eurozone nations, including Portugal and Spain, driving up their borrowing costs.

Portuguese⁷ Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos told the Financial Times there was now a high risk that Portugal would have to seek foreign financial aid.

"The risk is high because we are not facing only a national or country problem," he told the FT. "It is the problems of Greece, Portugal and Ireland. This is not a problem of only this country."

He stressed subsequently, however, that Portugal had no immediate⁸ plans to ask for assistance.

The yield on Irish bonds - essentially⁹ IOUs sold by the government to fund state spending - traded lower on Monday, suggesting a slight easing of concerns.

Although Tuesday's talks are routine, formal meeting of Eurozone ministers, the BBC's Europe editor Gavin Hewitt said that high-level talks had already begun, involving European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and his economy commissioner Olli Rehn.

Brussels fears that any delay risks repeating the Greek crisis that earlier this year threatened the entire eurozone, he added.