Spotlight on economy as Lenihan faces European leaders

Ireland’s economic slowdown will be back in the spotlight today as Finance Minister Brian Lenihan faces his European counterparts.

Less than a week after the government revealed its tax take for the first half of the year was €1.45bn behind schedule, Mr Lenihan will attend the meeting of Economics and Finance Ministers of the EU (Ecofin) in Brussels.

To add to the gloom, official figures released on Friday showed more people were signing on the dole in June than at any time in the last decade.

The Live Register recorded 220,811 unemployment benefits claims, a jump of almost 20,000 from May.

The last time it was this high was in August 1998 when 230,494 people signed on.

The minister is due to bring a rescue package of measures to Cabinet tomorrow.