Taoiseach: Budget will not be drafted in public
The Taoiseach has said that next year's Budget will not be drafted in public, after several of his Ministers expressed differing opinions on what will be included in December's Budget.
There appears to be some division between Labour and Fine Gael on whether or not income tax will be hiked, and whether some aspects of the Croke Park deal should be scrapped.
The Taoiseach said a recent review of the Croke Park Agreement would form part of the discussions about the Budget.
"We’ve had an independent report on Croke Park which will form part of the perspective for the Government (and on) which the Ministers for Public Expenditure and Finance will meet shortly," he said.
"I'm not going to speculate on any of that...This is not a Budget that's going to be drafted in public."
Transport Minister Leo Varadkar said yesterday that public-sector pay increments should be deferred, even though they are protected by the Croke Park Agreement.
Minister Varadkar said it would be hard to justify the pay increments when public services are being cut, and putting them off for a year could save the State €200m.
Eamon Gilmore told reporters in Luxembourg last night that the Croke Park deal did not provide for the withdrawal of increments.
But when asked about Leo Varadkar's proposal that they be deferred, he said: "Frankly I would prefer if individual ministers didn't get up every Monday morning and express a personal point of view about the Croke Park Agreement, or Budget formation."
Meanwhile, Education Minister Ruairi Quinn said this morning that the issue of allowances for public sector workers would have to be looked at.
Speaking on his way into this morning's Cabinet meeting, MinisterQuinn said it was not clear whether allowances were covered under the Croke Park deal or not.
"There's a dispute as to whether allowances are covered by the Croke Park Agreement or not," he said.
"We'll have to get a clear ruling on that…but they are part of the pay agreement for a lot of civil servants, particularly lower paid civil servants, and that will have to be looked at."
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