Irish government unveils four-year recovery plan

The Irish government has unveiled a range of tough austerity measures designed to help solve the country's debt crisis.



Among the spending cuts and tax rises are a reduction in the minimum wage, a new property tax and thousands of public sector job cuts.



The four-year plan is designed to save the state 15 billion euros.



The government is also negotiating a bail-out package with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which is expected to be worth about 85 billion euros.



The recovery initiative outlines plans to cut 24,750 public sector jobs, achieve savings in social welfare spending of 2.8 billion euros, and raise an additional 1.9 billion euros from income tax.