Ictu leader calls for social solidarity pact

SEVERE ADJUSTMENTS in public spending like those recommended in the McCarthy report could only be made in the context of a social solidarity pact which had as its priority the maintenance of employment, the general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has said.

David Begg said the report addressed the economic consequences of the current financial turmoil “in isolation of the social impact” and the Government needed to take an approach of responsibility and solidarity.

Asked on RTÉ Radio's This Weekprogramme yesterday if he supported any of the recommendations in the report, Mr Begg said he could not see "anything particularly attractive" in the report.

However, he said he would not be “entirely upset by the prospects of reducing the size of our embassies abroad”.

On the same programme, Prof John Fitzgerald, of the Economic and Social Research Institute, called for a complete reversal of the Governments decentralisation policy, which he described as a “disaster” that would ultimately make the public sector less efficient. He said the Government should implement recommendations made by the McCarthy report to save €2.6 billion.