Govt aims to secure support from Lowry and Healy Rae

The Government will try to finalise a deal with Independent TDs Michael Lowry and Jackie Healy Rae today to pass key Budget votes in the Dáil tomorrow night, after "Intensive discussions" at the weekend aimed at securing their support.

The Budget measures have now been finalised. It will be printed tonight and Finance Minister Brian Lenihan will present it to his Cabinet colleagues in the morning, and to the Dáil tomorrow afternoon.

The votes of TDS Lowry and Healy Rae are crucial if the financial resolutions are to be passed tomorrow night and the social protection bill is to get through later in the week.

A deal with the two is thought to be imminent and should be finalised today.

One of the key issues in the talks was politicians' pay - an Tánaiste Mary Coughlan last night revealed cuts for Ministerial and TD pay and pensions.

The Government may also yet be thrown a lifeline by the Opposition.

Rebel Fine Gael backbencher Lucinda Creighton said she would abstain from a Budget vote rather than see it defeated, given how important it is for the country.

Meanwhile, the Budget must convince worried shoppers that no more cuts are on the cards above those flagged, business chiefs warned today.

Lobby group the Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) said cash-strapped consumers remain too afraid to spend.

The body said the focus must be on returning the economy to growth.

Danny McCoy, Ibex director general, said: “We know the scale of the budgetary adjustment required, but how it is achieved is just as important.

“We have choices. The focus must be on cutting expenditure rather than raising taxes and ensuring that, when revenue is raised, it is done in a way that is least damaging to growth.”

Mr McCoy said the country would not recover from the crisis unless the economy begins to grow.

Ibex said the budget must also ensure the cost of business is reduced and that potential cutbacks in agency and departmental budgets do not see higher costs passed on to companies.

The body also warned that the introduction of a new universal social contribution, flagged up in Budget 2010, does not give rise to a higher marginal tax rate.