Ireland's finance minister Michael Noonan says that he will exploit the eurozone crisis to seek easier bailout terms for his cash-strapped economy.

Speaking to journalists in Dublin on Wednesday, Noonan stressed that his country was the success story Europe needed but added that recovery was being impeded by the burden of debt.

"The European authorities and the sovereign nations of Europe defend the bailouts of Greece, Ireland and Portugal on the basis that they will be successful", Noonan said. "They don't want failure, they want success. Ireland is leading the group in its potential to be successful."

Noonan is planning what he warned would be another "tough budget" in two weeks' time, but said he was now looking for help in ensuring that Ireland's export-led recovery gathered momentum.

"The overall burden of debt is going to impede growth", Noonan said, commenting on IMF forecasts that Ireland's debt will be 118% of GDP in 2013, a level similar to that of Italy. "We have borne a disproportionate share of protecting the European banking system by the actions we took. We have put that out there so let's see how that develops."

Noonan said that one avenue being explored was the financing arrangements for Anglo-Irish, one of the banks bailed out during the crisis.

The bank was refinanced through a €30bn (£26bn) promissory note – or IOU – from the European Central Bank, on which Dublin has to make interest payments. Noonan is looking to extend the period of the loan and to pay a lower rate of interest. Noonan confirmed that he plans to raise the top rate of VAT to 23% in the budget on 6 December but pledged there would be no further increases during the lifetime of the current five-year parliament. "I am making very definite announcements to provide certainty. There is a fear of the future."

Asked whether Dublin had contingency plans for the breakup of the single currency, Noonan replied: "Not really. We have thought about it but think it's a remote possibility. We think the euro is going to come through this and will remain intact."

He added that the time of maximum danger had been in the week when Greece announced that it would hold a referendum on its bailout terms.

"We think the euro is a very strong currency. It's future is as a world reserve currency. The problem is not the euro, it is certain parts of euroland."

Ireland would have no difficulty in abiding by tougher budgetary conditions demanded by Germany because it is doing so, with the Troika making sure four times a year that the country was meeting the terms of its rescue package before disbursing bailout funds. In a separate speech to business leaders in Dublin, Noonan admitted that Ireland was still in difficulty.

"We have to face the music. There are no soft options. There is no painless way of making the adjustment. We don't want to go back to where we were before the recession. That would be going back to a failed model. People are in denial about the real effects of what has happened. We need a new business model for Ireland."