Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has said that the Covid Wage Subsidy Scheme will not end abruptly and hinted that it could last until the end of the year.

The latest exchequer tax returns published this afternoon will go a long way to reassure the new coalition it has the money to extend the Covid-19 unemployment supports and fund its promised stimulus packages without blasting through an indicative €30bn upper ceiling for the budget deficit this year.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has signalled caution over the inclusion of 100% State-backed loans in the SME credit guarantee scheme element of the Government’s pending multi-billion stimulus package for the economy.

Cabinet Ministers are meeting this afternoon in their new roles.

Cutting taxes will likely be the least effective way in helping lift the economy out from the Covid-19 jobs crisis because there is no guarantee that people who fear a second wave of pandemic cases won’t just save rather than spend the money, ESRI professor Kieran McQuinn has said.

Fine Gael Minister Paschal Donohoe has said he will be a “bridge-builder” if he is elected President of the Eurogroup of finance ministers.

Concerns are growing that the recovery package promised by Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe will fall short if the firepower fails to match what the British government has delivered for its struggling businesses.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe’s planned summer Covid-19 recovery package need only cost €2.7bn upfront but could save many thousands of jobs at small firms, according to Ireland’s main business group, Ibec.

Ireland’s main business group Ibec said that the Government's planned summer recovery package for small firms need not stretch to multi-billions and could be pegged to as little as €2.7bn upfront to save many thousands of jobs.

Penneys, Brown Thomas and H&M were among the dozens of retail brands to lobby senior government ministers for a 12-month commercial rates cut, warning that without "urgent and decisive action", retail businesses would close.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has said that Fine Gael would “argue very firmly” in favour of the Cork-Limerick motorway project while the Green Party’s deputy leader Catherine Martin said that if commitments and investment had already been made then such projects would be likely to go ahead.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe says that there has been "a lot of great work" done, but that agreement has not yet been reached as government talks looked set to go into Monday.

The latest initiative has seen members of the gardaí joining Ballydehob Community Alert Group to give care packs to up to 200 elderly residents.

As the sun split the stones yesterday, teams from Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, and the Green Party trundled into Agriculture House on Dublin’s Kildare St to begin the fourth week of talks.

Women and men left out of the temporary wage subsidy scheme due to maternity or paternity leave will have their payments backdated to March.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said that Ireland is on track to move into Phase Two of the plan to reopen the country.

Unions have been campaigning for the increase to go ahead despite the predicted €30bn hole in the state's finances due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

It would be fair to assume that the last thing finance minister Paschal Donohoe wanted to see this week was a letter from the European Commission highlighting the economic, social and environmental problems that remain to be fixed by the Government.

The Finance Minister has sent a "clear message" to the banks that mortgage applicants in receipt of the State's Covid-19 wage subsidy payment should not be blocked from drawing down their loans.

Paschal Donohoe is running up against “the hypocrisy” of the weekly unemployment payment of €350 and the much lower €203 payment, a leading adviser to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has warned.

The Finance Minister says that he is "very aware" of an anomaly in the Temporary Wage Subsidy Scheme which has locked women returning from maternity leave out of payments.

There are now 24,251 cases of coronavirus in Ireland.

Paschal Donohoe welcomed a commitment by France and Germany for a €500bn European recovery fund and said this would help support employment here and rebuild the Irish economy.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe's refusal to sell more shares in three bailed-out banks has seen the taxpayer's stake fall by more than €10 billion in less than two years, it can be revealed.

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has said it was important to get the balance right between reopening the economy and reducing the spread of Covid-19.

The trial of Aaron Brady, who denies the capital murder of Detective Garda Adrian Donohoe, has resumed in front of the jury following a nine-week break.

Changes are due to be made today to the way the special payments are made, to make sure it is more effective for those on lower incomes and the scheme is keeping over 400,000 people in a job which is critical, said Mr Donohoe.

The Exchequer has recorded a deficit of €7.5bn up to the end of April 2020.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe has pledged to investigate if banks are withdrawing mortgage loan offers because workers are part paid by the state wage subsidy scheme.

Independent specialists have been appointed by the Government to carry out a review of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) submitted for the proposed €8.5m Glanmire Flood Relief scheme.

Five of Ireland's leading motor insurers have bowed to political pressure and are set to offer refunds or discounts to customers.

Transport and local authorities have not yet been given information on the future of Cork infrastructure projects such as the Dunkettle interchange and Macroom bypass after Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said major capital projects could be deferred.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe TD this week held a teleconference call with representatives of the credit union sector, following on from a call the Minister made on 23 March. The minister welcomed the ongoing work of the credit union sector, in supporting members experiencing difficulties related to Covid-19.

More than 47,000 businesses have signed up for the Wage Subsidy Scheme, the government has announced.

Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has said that he believes there will be an improvement in the economy in the second half of this year.

The executive director of the Association of Irish Festivals and Events (AOIFE), Colm Croffy has said that the ban on all major public gatherings up to the end of August will mean a loss of up to €85million to the economy.

The summer has effectively been cancelled, with gatherings of more than 5,000 people banned until September because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

We may be at the start of possibly our worst ever recession, but there are some small grounds for hope, writes political editor Daniel McConnell

The Irish economy will suffer a huge contraction in output and endure record job losses this year, before employment levels recover gradually as output rebounds in 2021, according to the first Government forecasts on the fallout from the Covid-19 crisis.

The country is “clearly now in the midst of a severe recession” and is set to shrink by 10.5% this year on foot of the Covid-19 crisis, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe said.

The Social Democrats had written to Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin asking both to provide costings for the plans outlined in last week's policy document.

The dispute over business interruption insurance claims during the Covid-19 pandemic has flared again, despite the Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe having warned about the potential "reputational damage" to the industry.

Motorists should be given refunds on their insurance policies because of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, says Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe.

The Social Democrats are demanding more detailed economic costings on the promises being made by Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil before it makes a decision on entering government formation talks.