The massive public sector reform programme unveiled by the Government yesterday contains “no major shock or surprises”, the Civil Public and Services Union said today.

General secretary Blair Horan said the plan had been pretty well flagged since the Croke Park Agreement was signed last year and unions knew what approach the Government would take.

Speaking on Morning Ireland today Mr Horan said the decision to scrap decentralisation will be a "big disappointment" for the towns that had expected to take part in the programme.

But he added when the “crisis hit a few years ago that this programme was very very doubtful”.

“Once we got into the bailout programme with the troika I don’t think they were going to spend money to complete a decentralisation programme.”

The decision is to slim down staffing levels in the public service to 282,500 within four years will also be a “major challenge” for both unions and the Government.

Mr Horan added: “But we’re not masters of our own destiny any more and to some extent we just have to get on with this now.”

He said frontline services will have to be protected as much as possible and while the unioni broadly agrees with the Government’s plan the “devil will be in the detail”.

“It will be a major challenge but I think we all agree there are different circumstances now and we just have to get on with it.”