Finance Minister Brian Lenihan has said the Government's guarantee scheme will be extended to some non-Irish banks with a major presence in Ireland.
Ulster Bank, First Active, Halifax Bank of Scotland, IIB Bank and Postbank were all named by the Minister as eligible for the scheme.
Last week, the Government announced its State guarantee scheme for six Irish-owned banks.
As soon as the Minister for Finance made the announcement the banks that are not 100% Irish-owned began to lobby for their inclusion.
The Labour Party has claimed adding more banks to the existing scheme will cost an extra €200bn.
However, the Department of Finance says it will bring the original liability from €440bn to almost €500bn.
Minister Brian Lenihan said today he was extending the guarantee to banks with a broad footprint in the domestic economy.
He said there would be additional limitations to ensure the support covered liabilities in the national economy as opposed to the Irish subsidiaries and their parent groups.
He said it was another sign of determination of EU member states to ensure the stability of the banking system.
Elsewhere, EBS, Permanent TSB and National Irish Bank have confirmed that they will pass on the full interest rate cut of 0.5% announced yesterday by the European Central Bank to their tracker mortgage and standard variable rate mortgage customers.
Shares on Wall Street have closed at their lowest level in five years with the Dow Jones index of stocks falling by 7%.
Among the companies worst affected were major consumers brands Coke-a-Cola, General Motors and Ford.
Analysts said ongoing credit problems and economic fears have contributed to the slump.
Meanwhile, central banks in Asia have followed in the steps of the US, Europe and China by cutting key interest rates in an attempt to bring calm to global markets.
Chief economist of the International Monetary Fund Olivier Blanchard says the economic crisis is not as bad as the Great Depression of the 1930s.
He was speaking ahead of a G7 meeting in Washington tomorrow.
It will see finance ministers of the world's richest countries meet with those of Russia, China and India to discuss the ongoing financial meltdown.
The US finds itself in a rare position of weakness, facing many allies that have been highly critical of its economic policy and regulatory system blamed for the problems.
The gathering will be closely watched by investors, who are eager to see solutions and cross-border action by the world's leading powers to help a return to normal lending practices and calm stock markets.
US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson said the meeting would be a forum 'to discuss the steps that each of us are taking to confront this crisis and ways to further enhance our collective efforts'.
Mr Paulson played down the possibility of a one-size-fits-all response to the crisis, however, stressing the different challenges by each country.
The four European members of the G7 have themselves been unable to find a common response and other countries have declined to follow the example set by the US.
