'Bord Snip' report due on cuts

The Government spending-cut group – known as “An Bord Snip Nua” – is expected to recommend cuts amounting to between €4 billion and €5 billion in Government expenditure when it submits its report early this week.

Officially titled the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes, the four-member committee headed by University College Dublin economist Colm McCarthy is expected to recommend some 400 measures to cut public service and Government spending.

The group's report is expected to be delivered to the Department of Finance on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Speculation has mounted that a major redeployment of staff within Civil Service departments will feature prominently in the report.

It was reported today that under the group's proposals, several Government departments, including the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs will be reorganised.

The Sunday Timesreported that the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism will be abolished.

Speaking on RTÉ radio this afternoon, Minister for Social Welfare Mary Hanafin refused to speculate on a €1.5 billion cut to her budget. She said the best way to reduce the social welfare bill was to "get people back to work."

However, when asked whether Child Benefit would be targeted, she said the measure costs the State €2,500,000 per annum and confirmed that it would either be taxed or means-tested.

The Minister said her department was working closely with the Department of Finance and with Revenue but added that means testing would be "difficult" as it would mean assessing 600,000 mothers.

Rent allowance, which amounts to €530m per annum, will also be looked at as rents have fallen.

Speculation is growing about the recommendations from the committee, which was given a remit to examine a wide range of government spending with a view to identifying possible savings.

An Bord Snip was established in November 2008 tasked with identifying areas where public sector reforms, including significant redundancies and the abolition of decades-old restrictions, could lead to significant savings for the State.

The group was established as a result of declining global financial conditions and the collapse in the building industry.

Fine Gael Social & Family Affairs spokeswoman Olwyn Enright today accused the Government of having no coherent economic strategy.

“You would almost imagine it was the week before Budget day reading the Sunday newspapers which are full of the kind of Government finance briefings we normally only see pre-Budget," she said.

"This time they are softening people up for social welfare cuts and terrifying those who have already lost their jobs and those who are in danger of doing so.

“The Fianna Fáil Government has already had a taste of the public anger that results when they attack the most vulnerable and what we are witnessing now is a media strategy to minimise the next backlash rather than a coherent plan to get us out of the economic mess they landed us in,” Ms Enright added.