Taoiseach Enda Kenny said the Government will not be able to say what scale of budgetary cuts will be required until the national accounts are examined at the end of the summer.

He said tax returns were ahead of projections, which was “a good place to be”. Mr Kenny was speaking at the Internet advertising specialist Adroll’s offices in Dublin at the announcement of 100 new jobs.

“Clearly the stronger the economy becomes the more amenable the adjustment to reach the target figure will be,” he said.

“You’re not in a position to actually determine what the scale of the adjustment will be until the national accounts are examined towards the end of summer.”

As he prepared to depart for Brussels, Mr Kenny said he believed Jean-Claude Junker would be elected as president of the European Commission.

He was asked what qualities he would look for when selecting Ireland's European Commissioner when both Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore and Minister for the Environment wanted the job.

“Leaving the two names you mentioned aside here,” he said Commissioners should be “able to work in a collegiate sense” whatever responsibilities were assigned to them.