The Finance Minister Michael Noonan says Ireland is "well on the way" to exiting the bailout programme after EU finance ministers agreed to give the country more time to repay its bailout loans.

Ireland and Portugal are to get seven more years to pay back the money borrowed from the EU back in 2010.

The agreement to extend the maturities on Ireland's loans will improve the country's cash flow, and help Ireland to avoid having to make large loan repayments in future years.

Sinn Fein has however criticised the deal saying it gives nothing to taxpayers but just saddles them with more debt for years to come.

But Minister Noonan told a press conference in Dublin that the deal will smooth Ireland's path back to the international markets: