Ireland says has strategy to deal with challenges

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland's finance ministry said on Thursday it had a strategy to deal with its economic woes and underlined its commitment to deal with its budget deficit following Moody's downgrade of its AAA rating.

"The government has been clear in its strategy to address the difficulties in the public finances and has taken very significant steps in that regard since July 2008, amounting to about 5 percent of GDP in 2009," the ministry said in a statement.

(Reporting by Carmel Crimmins; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)