The Minister for Finance, Mr Charlie McCreevey T.D., is coming under pressure after plans for cuts of €1 billion in Government spending were leaked to Sunday newspapers.
Brendan Howlin TD., leader of the Labour Party has called on the Minister to resign over the matter. He said the memo shows the cutbacks represent "just the tip of the iceberg and that the government is planning to target a whole range of public services."
The memorandum, leaked to the Sunday Tribune, shows that more than €150 million will be cut from education spending and health will suffer cuts to the tune of €50 million in 2003.
Sinn Féin's Seán Crowe has challenged the Minister to "come clean" over the revelations and said the cuts were part of a "Fianna Fáil/PD battle plan to wage war on public sector services, education, social welfare and housing."