European Commission gives Ireland green light for further spending

The European Commission has agreed to ease the stringent spending restraints that would have limited the Government’s scope to increase expenditure in the upcoming budget.

The decision taken by the commission which requires member states’ ratification hands Finance Minister Michael Noonan an additional €1.5bn to be divvied up between spending increases and tax cuts.

Having publicly exerted pressure on European officials for six weeks, the formal acknowledgement by Economic and Finance Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovi comes as a major boost to the Coalition.