THE OPPOSITION parties have accepted a Government offer of briefings by a senior official on budget options but insisted they will not be tied in to the targets set by the Coalition.
The Cabinet decided yesterday that secretary general of the Department of Finance Kevin Cardiff should write to the Opposition parties to offer information in advance of the Government’s four-year budget strategy next month.
A Government spokesman said later the finance official would give each party “factual information on the economic and budgetary parameters to assist them in the formulation of their budgetary plans”.
The spokesman said Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan had briefed the public service committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions on Monday to assure them the Government intended to comply with the terms of the Croke Park Agreement.
The agreement guarantees that public service pay and pensions will not be subject to further cuts and it rules out compulsory redundancies in return for flexibility in redeployment in the public service.
It emerged last night that up to 6,000 jobs in the health service could go as part of a voluntary redundancy programme being proposed by management in the Health Service Executive.
The programme, if approved by Government, would be aimed at managers and administrative staff.
Highly placed sources said last night it was envisaged that between 3,000 and 6,000 staff in the HSE could go under the proposed voluntary redundancy scheme.
In the Dáil yesterday, Taoiseach Brian Cowen refused to be drawn on the level of cuts that would be introduced in this year’s budget, in response to questions from Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny as to whether the cuts in December’s budget would amount to €3 billion or €4 billion.
Last night, Fine Gael and the Labour Party said they would be happy to accept assistance from the department in helping to formulate their budgetary strategies but they ruled out a joint approach with the Government to the budget deficit.
“Fine Gael will continue to play a constructive role in the forthcoming debate on the budget but the matter of a second Tallaght Strategy simply does not arise. The context now is different from then,” the party front bench said in a statement after its weekly meeting.
The party front bench accepted that the deficit/GDP ratio must be reduced to 3 per cent by 2014 as already agreed between the Government and the European Commission.
“Fine Gael will make independent decisions on what expenditure and tax measures are required to achieve the targets we set. We will not be bound by the decisions on particular expenditure cuts and tax increases which the Government may announce,” added the statement.
The party said the idea of a national government was being pushed by many of those who wanted to keep Fianna Fáil in office.
“What they mean by the term is a Fianna Fáil government, whose policies are supported by the opposition and by Fine Gael in particular. However, the current Government does not have the authority or credibility to deliver the budgetary programmes that will restore Ireland’s fortunes.”
The party said it would be happy to accept any assistance from the department of Finance to help frame the Fine Gael approach to the budget.
Later, Fine Gael spokesman on public expenditure Brian Hayes criticised the Taoiseach for refusing to tell the Dáil whether the Government intended to introduce cuts of €3 billion or €4 billion.
“When Enda Kenny questioned the Taoiseach about Government plans in the Dáil today, Brian Cowen either could not answer, or he would not. This is not the way to inspire confidence in worried consumers and businesses.”
A Labour Party spokesman said last night they would certainly take up the offer of a budget briefing from the Department of Finance.
“Joan Burton has been asking for a number of weeks if the Department of Finance would provide a designated official to brief the Opposition parties on the budget as happened in the British general election when George Osborne and Vince Cable were given detailed briefings.”