The European Commission has identified Ireland as one of the member states with strong budgetary discipline.
In a statement today the Commission said Britain, France, Greece and Portugal must increase their efforts to cut their public spending deficits. According to the Commission, Italy is close to bringing its deficit into line with EU guidelines.
Under the Stability and Growth Pact member states must try to keep their public deficits to less than 3 per cent. Ireland and Spain were identified as the two countries with "providing good examples of fiscal policies".
However, it wasn't all good news for Ireland. The report notes that the sustainability of Ireland's budgetary position is under threat from the "significant future rise in age-related Government expenditure".
According to the Commission "it would be appropriate for Ireland to continue to implement measures to address the long-term budgetary implications of ageing populations".