( CNN ) -- Ireland has formally requested substantial `` financial assistance '' from the European Union and International Monetary Fund to buttress the government and bolster its struggling banking sector , Prime Minister Brian Cowen said Sunday night . `` I want to assure the Irish people that we have a better future before us , '' Cowen said in announcing the request , as well as pledging substantial budget cuts and tax hikes . European Union financial ministers said they would `` welcome the request , '' according to a joint statement issued soon after Cowen 's announcement . Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said his European colleagues agreed to take on the request and start negotiations in a teleconference earlier in the day . `` Ministers concur with the ( European ) Commission and the European Central Bank that providing assistance to Ireland is warranted to safeguard financial ability in the EU and in the euro area , '' the EU statement said . The central bank 's governing council likewise embraced the request , saying in a statement that a loan deal `` will contribute to ensuring the stability of the Irish banking system and permit it to perform its role in the functioning of the economy . '' And IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn said , in a press release , that the international finance institution `` stands ready to join this effort , including through a multi-year loan . '' In addition to EU and IMF assistance , Cowen said the United Kingdom and Sweden have agreed to consider giving their own loans to Ireland . Dublin had long publicly insisted it would not seek an external bailout , despite widespread concerns that a ballooning budget deficit and wobbly banking sector would further cripple the Irish economy . Yet a possible loan package was front-and-center during talks this week of European financial ministers . And officials from the European Commission , the European Central Bank and the IMF have been meeting officials from Ireland 's Department of Finance and the National Treasury Management Agency since Thursday , hashing out measures required to bring stability to the Irish banking system . Those negotiations now continue to determine the extent and guidelines for any aid package , according to Cowen , who said he expects a deal to be finalized `` in the next few weeks . '' At Sunday night 's press conference in Dublin , which followed a meeting of Cowen 's cabinet , Lenihan said the country would ask for less than 100 billion euros from the EU and the IMF . Last May , those two bodies bailed Greece out to the tune of 110 billion euros ( currently $ 150 billion ) . Cowen said that the government planned to cut 6 billion euros before it wraps its current budgetary cycle on December 7 , and planned to eliminate a total of 15 billion euros over the next four years . `` These targets already have the support of European ( financial ) ministers , '' the prime minister said . `` These ( cuts ) will be difficult for everyone . '' In part to meet its loan requirements , Dublin also will set out a comprehensive four-year plan detailing its deficit-reduction and other measures to shore up the Irish economy , according to Cowen . He said that while corporate tax rates would stay unchanged , income tax levels would rise to 2006 levels . In addition , Cowen said he 'd push new policies that would make Irish banks `` significantly smaller than they have been in the past ... so they can be brought on their feet . '' Ireland shares the euro with 15 other European nations , and its perilous financial situations has raised concerns about a trickle-down effect on the common currency and the wider European Union . Responding to questions that a large outside loan might threaten Ireland 's sovereignty , Cowen said the Ireland 's economy was already tightly tied into Europe 's and said `` support ... from our partners '' encouraged him to support asking for their assistance . `` Our membership in the EU has transformed our country for the better , '' the prime minister said . `` ( But ) the task of rebuilding our economy falls to our own ... people . '' The money is required to stave off the collapse of Irish banks , which have seen a major outflow of funds over the last year , the Irish government said Sunday . International loans would act as a contingency fund , Lenihan said earlier Sunday , suggesting the mere fact that the funds were available might make it possible for Irish banks to borrow money on the open market again . The Irish government already has pumped billions of euros into Irish banks to keep them afloat , effectively nationalizing most of them . The European Central Bank is lending money to Irish banks because other banks wo n't . One analyst said Ireland has no choice now but to accept outside money . `` In actual fact Ireland as a country , in financial markets , has no reputation now . We 've got to rebuild it , and the reason you rebuild it -- or how you rebuild it -- is you rebuild your balance sheet , '' author and economist David McWilliams told CNN . `` The situation is , if there is no money , we ca n't pay . And there is no money . That 's why the IMF are here . If we had money , they would n't be here . '' Journalist Peter Taggart and CNN 's Jim Boulden and Bharati Naik contributed to this report .
NEW : IMF , EU ministers ` ` welcome '' Ireland 's request for financial assistance . NEW : The United Kingdom , which may offer separate loans to Ireland . NEW : Taxes could rise and billions could be cut , Ireland 's prime minister said . Ireland 's finance minister said the country would ask for under 100 million euros .