Budget 2017: Michael Noonan: No bad faith with Fianna Fáil

Finance Minister Michael Noonan has insisted there was “no bad faith” between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in the budget negotiations after the Government party found an extra €300m in the final days of talks.

Mr Noonan stressed he told his opposition rival “straight away” about the additional funds, as he admitted to “difficulties” in finalising the financial document due to the sheer number of groups involved.

Speaking in the Dáil yesterday, Fianna Fáil finance spokesperson Michael McGrath hit out at the fact Fine Gael increased the €1bn fiscal space to €1.2bn late last week, before adding an extra €100m to the sum yesterday.