Investors are moving their money out of Greece as the possibility of a breakthrough in the country's drawn out negotiations with its international creditors grows more remote.
The war of words between key players in the saga continued yesterday as Greek PM Alexis Tsipras delivered a fiery address to the parliament in Athens.
He accused European authorities of trying to humiliate Greece, the ECB of trying to strangle its economy, and said that the IMF holds "criminal responsibility" for the current Greek debt crisis.
Jean-Claude Juncker responded by saying that the Greek government is misrepresenting the debt negotiations, adding that he has “sympathy for the Greek people but not the Greek government.”
While the Eurogroup will meet tomorrow, there is little hope of a breakthrough, it is now believed that emergency talks will be held by European leaders on Sunday.
______________________________________________________________
Finance Minister, Michael Noonan has responded to criticisms from the Fiscal Advisory Council who accused the Government of possibly breaking EU budgetary rules.
The minister responded: ""The referee on European fiscal rules is the Commission. And the Commission has said that we will meet … them [the rules]."
The Fiscal Council said that the Irish Government's economy outlook is too optimistic and that it doesn't take account of the country's ageing population and EU rules for the steady reduction of country's structural deficits.
______________________________________________________________
Galway County Council has raised concerns over plans for Apple's proposed €850m data centre in the county, it is asking for more information concerning energy consumption and traffic levels at the site.
It says that the current plans lack detail, particularly regarding Apple's commitment to use renewable energy to power the facility.
The project will employ 300 people during the construction phase, and 150 people are due to be employed at the centre, when it is completed.
______________________________________________________________
The new operator of the National Lottery made a loss of €17.4m in the nineteen month period to the end of 2014, due to borrowing and expenses associated with the transition to a new operator.
Premier Lotteries Ireland, which includes An Post and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan, owners of the UK national lottery operator, Camelot, paid €405m in 2013, to operate the service on a twenty-year contract.
The service began operating towards the end of last year and in the brief operating period to the end of December, generated total sales of €57m and distributed €33m in prize money.
