The Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe has said the public finances are still within the overall budget published last October.
However, he said if current programmes to support incomes and businesses during Covid-19 are extended "well into 2021" then "much or all" of the contingency funds set aside will be used up.
The Minister said decisions will be made in the next few weeks on the extension of programmes beyond the 31 March. He said he believed that support will be needed "for quite some time." The Minister made his comments at an online press briefing this afternoon following a meeting of the Eurogroup.