Budget cuts put 30,000 jobs at risk, claim unions

Cuts introduced in the budget could result in the loss of up to 30,000 jobs, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has estimated.

Trade union leaders yesterday accused the Government of taking the wrong options in Tuesday’s budget, while also questioning the true size of the €2.5bn adjustment claimed by Finance Minister Michael Noonan.

Assistant secretary general, Sally Anne Kinahan, said the Government could have adopted a different approach that would have been fairer and achieved greater economic growth.