Tánaiste remains tight lipped on final figure for adjustment

The Tánaiste has declined to say how much less than the €3.1bn planned correction the budget will be.

It comes after the Financer Minister declared yesterday it would be "somewhat less" after what he described as pretty good exchequer figures.

Fianna Fáil pushed Eamon Gilmore in the Dáil to state what the figure for taxes and spending cuts would be.

"The Minster for Finance confirmed that yesterday, that it should be possible to meet our targets this year by doing an adjustment of less than €3.1bn," said Mr Gilmore.

"You are right that the budget discussions are at an intensive stage…they obviously won't be completed until right close to the budget and at that stage we will have a final figure for the adjustment."