Noonan: Bailout cost should be halved

THE cost of the bailout loan should be halved, Finance Minister Michael Noonan told his EU counterparts, not just for the sake of the economies in trouble, but for the good of the euro and Europe.

He criticised France and Germany for demanding an increase in the corporation tax rate, adding that neither country had moved despite recent contact. “There is a stand-off,” he said.

Mr Noonan said he put the bailout package in the European context.