International economists to offer Budget alternatives

A two-day conference getting underway in Dublin this morning will hear a range of international economists offer alternatives to the harsh cutbacks due in December's Budget.

It comes the day after an ESRI report warned that the Government's planned austerity measures would damage the economy.

Speaker Paul Sweeney, who is the economic adviser for the Irish Congress of Trade Unions said that €20bn to €30bn could be saved by "dealing with the bondholders of the banks…if we basically burn them."