The European Commission says Ireland will not face any consequences from the contents of the Anglo Tapes. The economics commissioner Olli Rehn says the content of the tapes is a matter for the Irish government and not the European Union.

He was responding to calls from a Dutch MEP to cancel Irish bailout loans and force Ireland to repay the money immediately.

It is the first time that authorities in Brussels have commented on the tapes.

Dutch MEP Auke Zijlstra says the disclosure of the Anglo Tapes revealed how the Irish bailout bailout was "based on lies". He has called on the European Commission to demand the immediate return of Irish bailout loans so that other EU countries do not have to cover the cost of Anglo.

Dutch MEP Auke Zijlstra says loans should be repaid

But in his first public comments on the subject Mr. Rehn says the tapes are an internal matter for Ireland and have nothing to do with other EU countries.

He says the apparent attempts by Anglo to deceive the Irish government about the extent of its problems came two years before the bailout loans.

The commissioner says it does not matter that Ireland needed a bailout because of the cost of saving Anglo and the other banks. That is because the EU loans were made directly to the Irish State, and not to the banks.