Govt faces Dáil fire over damning IMF assessment

The Government is coming in for major criticism in the Dáil this morning over last night's IMF report on the state of the Irish economy.

Opposition parties have been demanding that the Dáil hold a full debate on the global financial watchdog's assessment, which was highly critical of the Government for overheating the economy and stoking an unsustainable property boom.

The opposition has also been attacking Finance Minister Brian Lenihan for trying to claim that he was not responsible for the Government's policies and for saying that he welcomed the report's findings.

The IMF says the Irish economy will contract by more than any other in the developed world because of the policies implemented in recent years.