Govt considering sale of assets to raise funds

All eyes are on the markets this morning to see how they respond to the €85bn EU-IMF bailout of Ireland.

The rescue deal negotiated between the Government the EU and the IMF was approved by Finance ministers from across Europe yesterday.

Bank of France Governor Christian Noyer said this morning that he had "no doubt" that the bailout agreed would be successful.

But Fine Gael have said the Government has "sold out the country on lousy terms", while Labour said the Government has "lost the house, in a high stake game of poker" with the EU and the IMF.

Earlier, the Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation, Conor Lenihan confirmed that the Government is considering the sale of state assets to raise funds.

He said the sale of the rest of Aer Lingus is one of the options which has been looked at.