Spending axe will fall across all departments, vows Ahern

JUSTICE Minister Dermot Ahern said he could not rule out cutbacks in spending in his department for the rest of this year.

On the day Taoiseach Brian Cowen published figures on falling tax revenues and announced strict spending controls, Mr Ahern said the axe would fall across all departments, including his own.

“I’m not saying no cutbacks, I can’t answer that,” he said yesterday. “The reality is, as the Taoiseach has said, corrective measures have to be taken between now and the end of the year and that will be across all Government departments.