Take a leaf out of our book Germany

Members of the European Parliament have voted to freeze their budget for the next two years and end the monthly trip to Strasbourg which costs €180m per annum.

Irish banks are in line to receive €300 million to lend to SMEs at preferential rates from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and other projects such as wind energy generation are in the pipeline.

Irish pensioners are projected to suffer the biggest fall in the real value of their occupational pensions in the EU over the next few decades, according to European Commission figures.

Final decisions on the Greek bailout should be taken on Monday after Greece delivered on further cuts and political assurances at a special teleconference between eurozone finance ministers last night.

The vast majority of people living in Ireland (80%) believe that corruption is a major problem for the country; that it is part of Irish business culture and is widespread among politicians, according a new EU-wide survey.

Hopes of a quick fix for Greece were dashed last night as a eurogroup finance ministers’ meeting due to be held today was cancelled.

Twelve EU states have been warned that parts of their economies are showing dangerous imbalances that require further, detailed investigation.

Money to help revive the country’s sugar industry could be found in the EU’s regional budget, Fine Gael MEP Sean Kelly believes following a meeting with the European commissioner responsible.

The warning lights about the Irish economy were flashing for up to decade before the crisis struck that has turned the country into one of the most indebted in the world.