Ireland in the dock as European Commission takes action over deficit

THE first steps in opening a deficit procedure against Ireland will be taken today when the European Commission is expected to report that Ireland and five other countries are running excessive budget deficits.

This will be the first time that Ireland has exceeded the 3% of GDP budget over run since joining the euro.

The Irish Government has already reported to the European Commission that it expects to run a deficit that the commission has estimated will be of 5.5% for 2008 and 6.5% for this year.