The European Union Economic Affairs Commissioner says the recovery is not about bailing out the bankers.

Olli Rehn says that repairing the financial sector is the first step in repairing the economy.

He was speaking in Dublin at a meeting of the Chairpersons of Finance Committees.

Minister Michael Noonan chaired the Interparliamentary meeting which is held under the Irish EU Presidency.

The Minister said that 'perhaps the greatest development in the response to the economic and financial crisis has been the move towards banking union'.

He said that, once full banking union is in place, the direct link between the sovereign and the banking system should be fully broken, thus ensuring a more stable euro-area in the future.

The meeting draws together 3 issues for debate under the overarching theme of "Future strategies for better integration, growth and budgetary control".

'No complacency' in tackling unemployment

Introducing the meeting, Oireachtas Committee Chair Ciarán Lynch argued that European citizens could not continue to bear the burden on a journey of austerity without sight on the horizon of a clear social dividend.

"We must ask ourselves, what is our overall vision for sustainable growth in Europe and how does this underpin and maintain the European standard of living and social model. We must now begin to move beyond the language of consolidation and austerity to the language of growth and prosperity" he said.

While Mr. Rehn outlined the current challenges in fostering economic recovery across the European Union.

He said that the debate on the future of Economic and Monetary Union cannot be limited to institutional issues.

The Commissioner argued that there was no time for complacency in creating a European economy capable of sustainable growth and tackling unemployment.

Mr. Rehn says the recovery is about getting credit back to both the public and private sector.