Ireland has announced a record $20 billion worth of budget cuts, just days after accepting an unprecedented international bailout.
Finance minister Brian Lenihan announced a four-year economic plan designed to calm financial markets and satisfy international lenders that their $120 billion loan will be paid back.
"It is a rational and sensible plan. It will bring us out of the steep downturn, but it will ensure that as we climb out of it, we do so - on a sustainable basis for the future," he said.
The four-year plan includes a cut to the minimum wage and a hike in the country's value added tax.
Two thirds of that will come from spending cuts, the rest from raising taxes.
The minimum wage will fall to $10 an hour, student fees will go up, 25,000 public sector jobs will be lost and a one-off property tax of $140 will be levied on all households.
Prime minister Brian Cowen says the tough budget measures are a condition of the $120 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund.
"Today is about Ireland putting its best foot forward," he said.