O’Rourke says publish Bord Snip report

THE Bord Snip report recommending major spending cuts should be made public as soon as possible according to Fianna Fáil TD Mary O’Rourke who yesterday urged her colleagues in Government to “publish and be damned”.

The former minister and TD for Longford Westmeath said the report by the so-called Bord Snip Nua should be published “in all its horrors”.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen has not committed to publishing the report and said it was unlikely the Dáil would debate it before it breaks for the summer.

Ms O’Rourke told Newstalk radio: “If we don’t publish it, it’s going to be leaked bit by bit. I would, whenever it comes, publish it in full, in all its horrors and let us all digest it. And then the cabinet, in September, will get down to seeing what they will do and what they won’t do.”

, the Expenditure Review Committee, met for the last time on Tuesday, but their report is not yet finalised.

A spokesperson for the Department of Finance said the committee, chaired by economist Colm McCarthy, decided on final changes to the report. These will be drawn into the document in the coming days, before it is presented to the minister next week. It will contain recommendations for radical action to curb public spending, including cuts in social welfare payments which the Taoiseach has refused to rule out.

The Government is not likely to make any decisions on what measures to adopt until after a second referendum on the Lisbon treaty. It will aim to make savings of €4 billion in the December budget.

Asked if the deals between Government and the independent TDs who support it will be part of the Bord Snip review, Mr Cowen, told the Dáil yesterday: “The committee to look into spending programmes and public service numbers is reviewing all spending programmes.”