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.

In an interview this week, Mr Howlin suggested that other departments had not “measured up” in making submissions and he would be making “robust suggestions” about what they should do. But he would not say which departments were not pulling their weight.

His comments raise questions about how seriously other Cabinet members are taking the department, according to Fianna Fáil.

“The Government’s decision to split the Department of Finance into two departments looks like it may backfire.

“Some may fear we will end up with two weaker departments instead of one strong department, resulting in weaker Government,” said the party’s spokesperson on public sector reform, Seán Fleming.

Mr Fleming said Mr Howlin had “little control” over spending: “It seems that his requests have either been pushed aside or long-fingered in a number of cases.

“If Minister Howlin fails to take a decisive lead on this, he will find it extremely difficult to be taken seriously by his own Government colleagues as well by the public.”

Mr Howlin is seeking pay cuts at the top levels of NAMA and the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA).

In a letter to the Minister for Finance Michael Noonan in June, he said people earning over €200,000 should take a “voluntary” pay cut of 15%.

There are 14 staff members in the agency earning over €250,000, according to anonymous data provided to the Dáil. Their salaries are subject to confidentiality clauses and exempt from public sector wage cuts.

A spokesperson for Mr Noonan said he will “examine the approach to remuneration in the NTMA in more detail in the coming months” and that he will “ be consulting Minister Howlin” on the matter.

“In making this decision he will have to have regard to the changing economic circumstances of the state and the need for transparency in public expenditure,” he said.