Noonan dampens hopes of a lenient budget

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has warned the country to brace itself for a “tough” budget, despite the exchequer having more money than expected.

He moved to dampen expectations of a relatively benign budget even if the Government uses the €1bn windfall from the promissory note deal to ease the financial pain in October.

Mr Noonan would not be drawn on calls from fellow Fine Gael ministers to use the money to cut taxes, but said he now had room for manoeuvre. However, he warned against people raising their hopes that austerity was coming to an end.