The EU's economic affairs commissioner says Ireland appears set to successfully exit its troika bailout programme.

However Ollli Rehn says the rate of unemployment here is 'much too high'.

Mr. Rehn's told a press conference in Luxembourg held in the aftermath of yesterday's Eurogroup meeting that there are still signs that the Irish economy is picking up, with growth recorded every year since the €64 billion bailout, adding that exports here had remained 'resilient'.

Eurogroup Vice President Olli Rehn said "We are now two months from the end of the Irish programme and three months from the end of the Spanish financial sector programme. Both programmes are on track for a successful conclusion. The conditional financial support has helped to deliver an economic turnaround in the two countries concerned."

He added "In the coming weeks, the Central Bank of Ireland will complete its balance sheet assessment and the Bank of Spain will carry out its forward-looking exercise to analyse the resilience of the banking sector in these two countries. Without prejudging the outcome of these exercises, we can say that both countries have a very good chance of successfully concluding their programmes in a sustainable manner."