Michael Noonan insists health not the reason for missing eurozone meeting of finance ministers

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has insisted his health was not the reason he missed a key eurozone meeting of finance ministers.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny suggested yesterday that Mr Noonan’s recent “health challenges” was the reason for Mr Noonan not attending the Ecofin meeting last week, but Mr Noonan’s spokesman denied this was the case.

Mr Noonan has suffered a number of health problems during his term as finance minister, including hospitalisation over Christmas for pneumonia.