The Department of Finance has told all ministers to submit their initial spending plans for 2003 by next Friday, as the Government prepares for the toughest Estimates process in recent times.
The Cabinet will hold its first meeting since the summer holidays next Thursday, with the need to control public spending at the top of the political agenda.
The Department of the Environment said yesterday that it had been told to save €81 million, but that it was not yet releasing details.
However, it has already emerged that the Department has told local authorities to seek cost approval from the Department before embarking on house-building. A spokesman was keen to stress that the Department had been allocated an extra €50 million in the Government's mid-term spending review for social housing.
On Friday, ministers' spending proposals for next year will be given to an outside group of experts for scrutiny and suggestions as to how they can be curbed.
Further spending cuts for this year will also be announced in the coming weeks.
Ministers have come close to finding the €300 million in savings ordered by the Cabinet last month, but a further €50 million in cuts or extra charges have yet to be announced by several Departments, including Environment, Social Welfare and Transport.
The three outside experts - former Central Bank governor Mr Maurice O'Connell, former Revenue Commissioners head Mr Dermot Quigley, and Mr Kevin Bonner, former secretary-general of the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment - will scrutinise the proposed 2003 Estimates before reporting to the Cabinet at the end of next month on cutbacks which could be made.
Government preparations for the December Budget come as independent economists warn of a possible Government deficit for 2002 of close to €1 billion.
However, the Government continued to insist this week that it could achieve a small surplus, but this is now dependent on substantially scaling back spending plans for the remainder of 2002.
Minister of State Mr Willie O'Dea insisted yesterday that the Government would do "whatever it takes" to limit the rise in public spending this year to the 14.5 per cent envisaged in the last Budget.
Several ministers have yet to announce details of "adjustments" they plan to make to ensure that the Cabinet meets its agreed target of €300 million in immediate savings. Some €250 million of these cuts or new charges have been announced, with the remainder to come in the next few weeks.
Ministers, determined to find the resources to fund the health strategy and the National Development Plan, will have been further jolted by the conclusions of the Department of Finance's Economic Review and Outlook. The document warned that, unless the Government chose to curtail current spending, investment in future infrastructural needs would be jeopardised.
The Department of Finance yesterday confirmed the targets set for a number of individual ministers in this round of "financial adjustments". However, it said that it was up to those who have not announced their plans to do so themselves. The targets for individual Departments confirmed by Finance yesterday are: Education (€52 million), Defence (€40 million), Health (€38 million), Foreign Affairs (€32 million), Enterprise, Trade and Employment (€25 million) and Finance (€3 million). In addition, €10 million is to be saved on administration costs across all Departments.
Some Departments, such as Health, Foreign Affairs and Finance, have announced how they intend to meet these targets. Others have revealed some of their plans, while a number have made no announcements yet.