An Bord Snip Nua - Report calls for proper debate

There should be no sacred cows when it comes to cutting public expenditure, the Taoiseach has warned. Radical action is clearly needed.

“The situation is very bad indeed with the country nearly banjaxed,” according to David Begg, general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. As the Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes, commonly known as An Bord Snip Nua, was having its final meeting the Central Statistics Office was publishing figures indicating that the Irish economy declined by an unprecedented 8.5% on an annual basis during the first quarter of this year.

Consumer spending fell by 9.1% over the same period, and GNP declined by 4.5%. The economy had been fuelled by construction, but construction activity dropped by a staggering 31.4% during the first quarter in comparison with the same period last year.