€1.3bn pay cut ‘merely a first step’

THE €1.3bn pay cut will just be the start of a slimming down of the public service that could see tens of thousands of jobs lost, Taoiseach Brian Cowen has indicated.

Mr Cowen admitted his Government hadn’t been fast enough in securing public service reform, but said it had to be achieved now because of the dire state of the public finances.

Significantly, he failed to rule out a winter of industrial discontent in response from the unions, saying he “hoped” an agreed path forward could be reached.