Lenihan outlines Ireland's four year recovery plan

The Irish government has outlined a four-year recovery plan that it hopes will restore confidence in the economy after the country said it would need to borrow tens of billions of euros.

The Prime Minister Brian Cowen said there would be challenging times ahead, but he said he had hope for the future and was confident that the Irish people would pull through.

The Finance Minister Brian Lenihan expressed an upbeat assessment of the Irish economy, saying exports were growing and unemployment was stabilising.

He also outlined the strategy of the recovery plan.