EU Finance Ministers have approved plans to repay our IMF bailout loans ahead of schedule.
Ireland now stands to save 1.5 billion euro over the next five years, after Ecofin Ministers made the agreement in Milan this afternoon.
Michael Noonan says he's hopeful that the NTMA will be in a position to refinance the first part of our IMF loans by the end of this year.
His cabinet colleague, Children's Minister James Reilly, says the savings will be reinvested in domestic job creation.
