PRIORITIES:THE GOVERNMENT'S new jobs initiative will be paid for in part by the reallocation of funding originally earmarked for a number of other projects.
Minister for Education Ruairí Quinn said last night that €20 million out of the €30 million being made available for the school works this year has been realised by a slow down in the third-level capital programme.
The balance of this funding is being made available by the exchequer from the proceeds of the new pension levy.
Minister for Transport Leo Varadkar said money had become available in his department as a result of delays in some projects that did not go ahead this year for contractual reasons rather than as a result of any programmes being cancelled.
He said that one of these projects was the proposed new Marlborough Street bridge.
Mr Varadkar said that the planned delivery of new buses which was scheduled to take place this year was not now going to happen until next year.
He said that this would provide about €11 million for the Government’s new jobs initiative programme.
Speaking at a press conference given by a number of Ministers last night, Minister for Enterprise, Jobs and Innovation Richard Bruton said that the Government would take its time in dealing with the proposed reform of the wage-setting mechanisms in various sectors of the economy to make sure that it got the elements right.
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