Two days have passed since the budget for 2015 was delivered by the tag team of Finance Minister Michael Noonan and Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin.

German deputy finance minister Steffen Kampeter urged countries such as France and Italy to live up to their policy commitments to boost the effectiveness of the European Central Bank’s monetary policy steps.

George Osborne tonight warned of dire consequences if Greece leaves the eurozone without an “ambitious” plan to deal with the fallout.