Slovenia and Ireland both have problems buying jet

The decision not to buy a new Government jet was the first of several cost-saving measures which will have to be taken in the months ahead, the Taoiseach said in Slovenia yesterday.

Public expenditure, Mr Ahern said, was running too high and the Government could not afford to have "too many luxuries".

Mr Ahern made the comments after a meeting with the Slovenian Prime Minister, Mr Anton Rop, who has also experienced political difficulties due to the cost of his own government's private jet.

The Slovenian government was forced to lease out the Falcon jet it bought at a cost of around €10 million, due to a deterioration in the public finances.

Mr Ahern said yesterday: "It is difficult enough to put the kind of resources which are necessary into frontline areas. So, wherever we can, and we can't really expect ourselves to have too many luxuries, we're putting the resources into these areas.

"It will be only one of a lot of measures that will have to go and it's one which has gone since yesterday."

It is now likely the Government will have to enter a leasing arrangement for use of a new aircraft during Ireland's presidency of the European Union, which begins next January.

Mr Ahern also rejected suggestions that accession states such as Slovenia would suffer from high inflation once they adopted the euro as their national currency. He said inflation in Ireland was not related to the euro but was a symptom of a country which had experienced very high growth rates.

"That inevitably brings heat into the economy, which brings its own difficulties. Now we have to work to bring down inflation," he said. It was the Government's intention to lower the rate of inflation to 2 per cent in line with other countries.