IBEC: A fifth of public sector must go

A FIFTH of public sector jobs must be cut to adjust to the new economic realities, employer’s group, IBEC, told the Government yesterday.

During a meeting with Taoiseach Brian Cowen, IBEC said more than 100,000 jobs have been lost in the private sector in the past year and it would be unsustainable if similar cuts were not made in the public sector.

It was the first day of a series of meetings which the Taoiseach and his officials are holding with the social partners to discuss the worsening economic situation.

Speaking after the meeting, in Government Buildings, IBEC director general Turlough O’Sullivan said: “With public finances in the position that they are in, the Government’s own income is dramatically down. Clearly they have to cut their cloth to suit their measure and get cracking on public sector numbers.”

Mr O’Sullivan told Today FM: “Over the past 12 months we have lost well over 100,000 jobs in the private sector, we’ve lost no jobs in the public sector so a comparable cut needs to be implemented.”

IBEC was told during the meeting that all government departments will be “going through their numbers” in the coming weeks and making proposals on how to cut costs.

Mr O’Sullivan said the present numbers are not sustainable after the latest exchequer figures showed a tax shortfall of €8 billion for 2008.

“I don’t think we should continue to maintain a public service at the current levels despite the fact that the income that’s available to the Government has been drastically slashed because of the lack of economic activity,” he said.

The Taoiseach will meet with trade union representatives today to brief them on the worsening economic situation, but will not “set out his stall straight away” according to a spokesperson.

Mr Cowen said yesterday: “It is very important, given the scale of the difficulties facing the country in the aftermath of the publication of the end of year exchequer figures last Monday, to sit down with the social partners.

“It’s an opportunity for the Government to engage very intensively with the social partners, set out so that everyone recognises the scale of the challenge that faces us, to listen to inputs they might have as to how we might work together to deal with them and to get on with making those decisions.”