SFA urges restraint on public spending

The Small Firms Association has urged the Minister for Finance Charlie McCreevy to maintain a strong hold on public spending and to resist demands for increases in public expenditure by backbench TD's and "high-spending" Government departments.

The SFA said that funds from once off sources should be invested where they have the highest economic and social return and not simply given up to assuage the feelings of backbenchers in the wake of recent election results.