Lenihan calls for 'collective social effort'

Finance Minister Brian Lenihan has appealed to the public to avoid "knee-jerk and defensive reactions" after the publication of today's report by An Bord Snip Nua.

The report, which lays out recommendation for one of the biggest planned cutbacks in the history of the State, urges 17,300 public sector lay-offs and has already drawn threats of a painful strike by public workers.