Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has said he does not believe that the failure of the Greek government to reach its deficit reduction target will have a negative impact on Ireland.
Speaking in Luxembourg, Mr Noonan insisted that "Ireland is not Greece".
He said this was understood in the markets and he did not think there would be any crossover.
The Finance Minister said he did not expect that a decision would be taken tonight on the release of €8bn in aid to Greece, because inspectors from the EU and IMF were still working in Athens.
World stocks, oil and the euro all slipped this afternoon after Athens admitted it will miss deficit targets this year, making a Greek debt default look more likely.
Bank shares were battered in Europe as investors feared the impact of a Greek default on holders of the country's bonds.
Shares in London closed 1% lower, while shares in Frankfurt fell 2.3% and the market in Paris was down 1.85%.
The Dublin market was up nearly 0.5% in late trade, but shares on Wall Street were down despite some better than expected US economic data.
Concerns about the European banking sector also sent the euro to an eight-and-a-half month low against the dollar, although it recovered ground later.
The 2012 draft budget approved by Greece's cabinet yesterday predicted a deficit of 8.5% of gross domestic product for 2011, well short of the 7.6% target.
The Greek cabinet also approved a plan to slash 30,000 state workers within 12 months.
