TAOISEACH ENDA Kenny has signalled that cuts in services, privatisations and the sale of some State assets are likely to emerge from the Government’s comprehensive review of exchequer spending which is under way.
In a wide-ranging speech to the biennial delegate conference of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions in Killarney last night, he said many of the decisions which the Government would have to take would not be popular.
He said the country would continue to meet its obligations under the bailout.
The Government would take the necessary steps to bring its spending into line with its capacity to fund it.
It would also enhance the revenue base of the State in ways that were fair and facilitated growth and employment.
Mr Kenny said nothing was excluded from the review of public spending.
“We will probably conclude that there are some things that the country simply cannot afford, and they will be dropped. There are some things that we cannot afford unless they are done very differently, at a lower cost, and they will be changed.
“There are some things which may be better done by the private sector or the voluntary sector, within a framework set by the Government, and we will be focused on the ends rather than the means.
“And there are undoubtedly other things which the country needs and which only a well- managed and cost-effective public service can provide. These will be maintained and expanded where necessary.
There was also a need to consider whether State assets were producing the best social and economic results, or whether they would be better placed into other hands where investment and innovation were more likely, he added.
The programme for government contains provision for the sale of up to €2 billion in State assets.
Mr Kenny said the Government’s position on income tax rates was clear.
However, he warned there were “many other sources of revenue, and there are sources of revenue which many other countries rely upon, and which we will introduce as part of a balanced and fair system for funding necessary public services”.
He believed there had been “much unfair and unreasonable” criticism of the Irish public service.
However, he was aware that many public servants despaired at the “outdated structures” which “blight their working lives”.
Mr Kenny said transformation of the public service was needed. Progress under the Croke Park agreement had been “impressive” but marked only a beginning. He signalled that the pace and scale of change had to pick up.
The Taoiseach said his Government would have an “open door” to the trade unions to raise their concerns.
The Government had not yet reached a conclusion on the precise changes to be made under the planned reforms to the joint labour committee system of setting wages.
He said the burden of adjustment should not fall just on workers alone, and he warned that change was coming for those in sheltered sectors of the economy such as the professions “where extraordinary high incomes have persisted”.
Separately, the general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, David Begg, said austerity programmes were not working and would never work.
He warned that Government plans to take a further €3.6 billion out of the economy next year would drive it down further.
