So this morning the International Monetary Fund told Breakfast that it is hard to imagine that Ireland will need to resort to a loan from the IMF to get through the economic crisis.

“I hope Ireland would be interested in our advice but it is hard for me to imagine that they would be wanting our money,” Caroline Atkinson, the IMF’s director of external affairs, told Newstalk.

The interview comes after months of speculation about a worst-case scenario and Claire put it to the IMF that it had become a type of boogie man and the government has raised the threat of an IMF bailout as one of the reasons for economic cuts.

“We think of ourselves more as a doctor with a patient and not a policeman with a criminal,” Ms. Atkinson replied.

Asked by Newstalk if there was reason to fear the IMF coming in and “running” Ireland, Caroline Atkinson repeated it was “hard to imagine”.