Leadership

Bord Snip report due next week

01.07.2009
The group charged with proposing cuts in public expenditure, nicknamed An Bord Snip Nua, will not present its report to the Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan TD, until next week.

Recent reports had suggested that the Minister would receive the menu of some €5bn in public expenditure cuts from the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programme before this Friday.

However, as RTE News has reported, it is now thought the group will deliver its report to the Minister next week, and it may be some time after that until the public gets full, confirmed details of the proposed cuts.

Opposition TDs will certainly have to wait, as the Taoiseach yesterday told the Dail that the report, which will contain over 400 recommendations on where money can be saved in public expenditure, will not be discussed before it rises for the summer break.

There have been quite a number of leaks in relation to the long-anticipated report, stirring intense speculation surrounding the nature and scale of the cuts that may be proposed.

Over the weekend, the Sunday Times newspaper reported that the cuts will include proposals to split the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in two, scrap the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, and reshape the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.

According to the Sunday Tribune, the political hot potato of social welfare cuts in the order of €1.5bn also form part of Bord Snip Nua’s proposals to Government.

It is more than likely that child benefit payments will feature in this set of cuts. The Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Mary Hanafin TD, has confirmed that her department is working with the Revenue Commissioners to come up with a scheme whereby child benefit payments can be taxed.

The paper also reported that public-sector numbers could be slashed by 30,000, or 10pc, which would add up to an annual saving of over £1.5bn.

Up to half of all rural Garda stations may also be closed under the Bord Snip proposals, the paper suggested.

There is also considerable uncertainty surrounding the question of whether or not the report will be published.

An Bord Snip Nua, which is chaired by UCD economist Colm McCarthy (pictured), was set up in late 2008 to review public services staffing levels and spending.

Pictured: UCD economist Colm McCarthy, chair of An Bord Snip Nua