(CNN) -- Irish Finance Minister Brian Lenihan will recommend that the country apply for international funding to stay afloat, he said Sunday, reversing days of Irish insistence that Dublin does not need help.
The aid package would involve "tens of billions" of euros, he told Irish state broadcaster RTE.
He made the comments shortly before the government meets to finalize a deficit-slashing budget.
Dublin had insisted for more than a week that it doesn't need money from abroad to stay afloat despite the crisis, but the European Union and International Monetary Fund began discussing a possible bailout days ago.
Fears that Ireland will be swamped by a crisis in its banking sector have put strain on the euro and markets, and other European countries have been pressing Dublin to apply for help.
The EU and IMF bailed Greece out to the tune of 110 billion euros (currently $150 billion) in May of this year. Lenihan seemed to be signalling that an Irish rescue package would be smaller.
A "correction" of 6 billion euros ($8.2 billion) will need to be made in the next budget, the government said Sunday as it announced the cabinet meeting.
CNN
