BUSINESS REACTION:Ibec director General Danny McCoy has warned that Ireland will only "get onto "a sustainable path" if the Government is prepared to make expenditure cuts of the magnitude suggested in the McCarthy report.
He said: “Every person and every business will feel the impact as we try to bridge the gap between income and expenditure. Given that we have already had significant tax increases, the focus must now turn to reducing current expenditure. We either take a sharp correction now or we limp on indefinitely.”
The Irish Small & Medium Enterprises Association (ISME) has welcomed the publication of the An Bord Snip Nua report and recommended a full debate, with a timely implementation period.
It cautioned against any knee-jerk reaction from vested interest groups and said that while cutbacks were inevitable and necessary to help balance the state’s finances; the Government’s role was also to provide stimulus to the economy.
“While the downturn in Ireland is greater than most, if not all, of our trading partners, the solution to our economic troubles is within our grasp,” Isme chief executive Mark Fielding said .
He said that with “a judicious use of targeted cutbacks, taxation and a business stimulus package we can weather the economic storm and kick-start the economic fightback”.
Mr Fielding said the McCarthy report should be seen as an “opportunity to commence real reform of the public service and create a platform for future best practice in a sector long open to public ridicule because of inequalities, massive cost overruns and wholesale unaccountability.
Chambers Ireland called for the report to be debated and the actions needed to be executed speedily.
Chief executive of Chambers Ireland Ian Talbot said April's mini-budget was "merely the starter". He said the next budget based upon the recommendations of ‘Bord Snip Nua’ and the still-awaited Commission on Taxation "must be the main course".
"Our chief concern given the collapse in tax revenues witnessed since 2008 is that the cuts sought will not go far enough to enable the Government to balance its books in an orderly fashion."
