PUBLIC SERVANTS and social welfare recipients took the brunt of the €4 billion in spending cuts announced in the Budget yesterday by Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan. Maintaining that the country was now on the road to economic recovery Mr Lenihan said: “We have turned the corner.”
Key elements in the Budget were cuts of more than €1 billion in public service pay, a reduction of €760 million in social welfare, just under €1 billion on day-to-day spending and the same amount on capital projects.
From January 1st public servants will suffer a cut of 5 per cent on the first €30,000 of salary, 7.5 per cent on the next €40,000 and 10 per cent on the next €55,000. Social welfare recipients face an average reduction of 4.1 per cent with those under 25 facing much more substantial cuts.
Child benefit will be cut by €16 a month with families on social welfare being compensated through an increase of €3.80 a week in the qualified child allowance.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment