A former IMF director says Ireland probably won't get money from the Eurozone's bailout fund to cover the costs of its banks.

Donal O'Donovan told the MacGill Summer School that some European countries would not allow the E-S-M fund to be used to make up Ireland's costs.

He was speaking in a discussion on the future of Ireland's banking system.

The IMF veteran says the opposition of Germany and the Netherlands will be too difficult to overcome:

"The upshot of that is after a fair amount of acrimony, the issue is fairly clear, we're not going to get this money. This is not going to happen. The chances of it are virtually zero."