Taoiseach hints at government cutbacks of 5% next year
Brian Cowen said the Government is looking at spending below €50 billion next year — a drop of about 5% on this year.
Mr Cowen gave the figure at a press conference at the Fianna Fáil party think-in yesterday where he said all areas of government spending will be looked at and warned: “There is no painless way of doing this.”
“The total spend that we’re looking at the moment is in the region of almost €50bn so all areas of expenditure have to be carefully examined,” said Mr Cowen.
A memo sent to cabinet by the Department of Finance earlier this month suggested a cut in spending of about 2.5% as a “starting point”. That would have brought spending down to about €51bn.
Suggesting a sum of far below that yesterday, Mr Cowen said: “Bringing forward the budget now means that all government activity is geared towards coming up with the political choices that have to be made to give you the balance and mix in terms of coming up with a macro economic community that will hopefully give confidence to markets and the national investment community that this government is taking these matters in hand.”
Government expenditure usually increases year on year, partly because of price increases, partly because of public service wage bill inflation and partly because of increased spending on existing or new programmes.
Spending soared, in particular, during the boom years. Last year overall government expenditure increased by more than 10%.
While officials from the various departments have been consulting with their Department of Finance counterparts on the issue, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan has yet to hold the customary “bilaterals” when each minister meets with him to make the case for additional resources for his or her department.
Fianna Fáil Senators and TDs also discussed the health service at yesterday’s meeting at a seminar which was attended by less than half of the parliamentary party.
Two expert clinicians, Dr Garry Courtney from St Luke’s Hospital Kilkenny and Dr Colin Doherty, consultant neurologist in St James’s Hospital, told politicians more money will not solve the problems in the health service. They said what was needed is people embracing change and re-allocating existing resources for more productive purposes.
“There are a lot of good things happening in the Irish health service. Yes there are problems, but it seems the health service has always been defined by the existence of the problems as if there is no progress at all, and that is not the case,” said Mr Cowen.
