Greece has again threatened to default on the €1.6bn in debt repayments that it is due to pay to its international creditors in June.
In an interview on Greek television interior minister, Nikos Voutsis said, "This money will not be given, and is not there to be given."
Speaking to the media, finance minister Yanis Varoufakis added that the Greek government has "made enormous strides towards reaching a deal."
Next week Greece faces a public wage bill and a number of welfare payments which amount to over €1bn.
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Finance Minister, Michael Noonan sought advice from NAMA about how to control supply and demand in Ireland's property market, according to the minutes of a NAMA board meeting.
On February 5th of 2014 Mr Noonan raised "consideration" for the agency "to provide inventory of green and brown field sites, and advise on a mechanism to control supply/demand of land."
The minutes read: "Referring to the boom/bust nature of the Irish property market, the minister requested Nama to consider a strategic solution to this historic problem and whether Nama or an alternate state development agency could be charged with holding land and releasing/withdrawing it as appropriate to regulate the market."
A department of finance spokesman said that Mr Noonan "would have been aware of the expertise that became available because of the remit of Nama and would have been interested to hear their views," and added that, "Nothing concrete happened on foot of the meetings."
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The Central Bank has launched a review of the cyber security policies and procedures of asset managers amid fears that the industry has been slow to react to the growing threat of cyber crime.
Teams have started carrying out on-site inspections at a number of investment firms, fund managers and stockbrokers.
Last month US president, Barrack Obama said that the financial sector represents a weak point in online security as the state looks to protect the financial industry from hacking groups and terrorists.
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Reports over the weekend suggest that the Government is set to approve a plan whereby the ESB will spend upwards of €100m buying back shares held by its employees and retired staff.
The shares – equivalent to 5 percent of the market value of the ESB were given to employees in 2001 in lieu of a pay rise and had the potential to be traded on an internal market since then.
Retired ESB workers in particular have been critical that there has been no real appreciation in the trading price of these shares even though the ESB itself has effectively doubled in value to €4bn in that period. Under the rules of the ESOP scheme they have to sell their shares within three years of retirement.
If the government approves the deal, it’s estimated the average payout to retired employees will be in the region of €6,000.
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David Cameron has signalled he will not be deflected from his EU referendum plans by setting out the rules that will dictate who is eligible to vote, and committing to a breakneck schedule of diplomacy to ensure his plans for significant reform in Brussels are enacted swiftly.
Downing Street has said the franchise for the referendum will be the same as that which dictates General Elections.
This means that British, Irish and Commonwealth citizens who are over 18 and resident in the UK are eligible to vote, as are UK nationals resident overseas for less than 15 years.
EU nationals resident in the UK, who are entitled to vote in European elections, will nevertheless miss out on this occasion.
An EU Referendum Bill will be the centrepiece of the Queen's Speech, to be unveiled on Wednesday. The Bill has now been assured a smooth passage through parliament by Labour's decision to withdraw its opposition to the project.
