Howlin department branded ‘weak’ as demands ignored

THE newly-reformed Department of Public Expenditure has been described as “weak” after it emerged that its demands for cost-cutting ideas have been ignored by other departments.

Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin has asked all departments to come up with a menu of €10 billion worth of cuts which could potentially form part of the €3.6bn that must be met in December’s budget.

A letter was issued to all departments in June asking them to submit plans to slash 15% to 20% off their budgets, which adds up to around €10.5bn.