Govt 'to cut 4,000 more public sector staff'

The Government is to attempt to reduce public sector staff numbers by a further 4,000 before the end of the year, according to a report.

The report in today's Irish Times claims the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform has written to all Government departments asking them to bring forward plans to cut staff numbers.

The Government had set a target of reducing numbers in the public service to 282,500 by 2015, but now wants to move that deadline to 2014.

This means the Civil Service and non-commercial State companies will have to reduce staff numbers by 10% more than originally planned over the next year.