The public purse - Talks on cuts take on a surreal air

WE had yesterday a very worrying glimpse of how some very powerful groups have not yet accepted the great and pressing challenges facing the viability of this society.

Neither have they, it appears, accepted that their expectations of how this society can reward them may have to be modified.

Speaking early yesterday, ahead of last night’s Cabinet meeting to review public expenditure and the future of a number of quangos, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Pat Rabbitte set the scene.