ireland's leaders presenting their bare bones budget, an austerity plan sure to hit pensioners and the unemployed very hard. connell mcshane is live from dublin today. congress, what's happening in -- connell, what's happening in ireland that could be an indication of what we have ahead for us here? >> reporter: it very well might be, jenna, because the united states, obviously, has big with budget deficits it needs to deal with. the ironic part is that the big story over this u.s. today is about a tax cut compromise whereas here in ireland it's about tax increases as part of this budget which is expected to pass just barely in the parliament. it's a quick stat for you,-% of the irish people -- 47% of the irish population don't currently pay income taxes. later in the day we're going to talk to the embattled brian cow an about all that, and earlier today i spoke with jerry adams, well known international figure in irish politics for years and