Harsh austerity budget still coming this year, Gilmore warns
The Labour leader also said he understood public anger at the massive pay-off of over €700,000 given to top civil servant Dermot McCarthy — but stopped short of asking the outgoing government secretary general to hand part of it back to the taxpayer.
At the end of Labour’s two-day think-in in Carlow, Mr Gilmore said ESRI predictions of better-than-forecast debt rates in the coming years were welcome, but signalled they would not make December’s budget less harsh.
