Public service wage bill to fall one fifth by 2015

Senior public servants have been warned the Government is looking for greaterefficiency as it revealed the wage bill for the sector will fall by one fifth by 2015.

Brendan Howlin, the public expenditure minister, released figures which show total salaries will come down from €17.5bn at the peak in 2009 to €13.7bn.

He said the €3.8bn savings, by any measure, were very significant.