THE Government has embarked on a strategy to communicate to public sector workers the need for them to accept across-the-board pay cuts of up to 10 per cent.

Taoiseach Brian Cowen entered the debate in a meaningful way for the first time yesterday, when he emphatically disagreed with a call by the general-secretary of Ictu, Mr David Begg, to reduce the impact by spreading spending cuts over a longer period of time.

Mr Cowen told the Sunday Independent that there was "no sense in delaying" and that there was "no gain in putting off hard decisions". He said "the time has come" and added that the Government had to "act now".

While the Taoiseach said that "fairness was the key", he also warned that "no economic or social interest" could claim exemption from what he called "this national effort".

He added: "I need people's support for this... I don't want another 1980s."

With discussions on Nama and the new Programme for Government effectively concluded, the Cabinet last week turned its full attention to the December Budget, which will be the most severe in living memory.

At that meeting it agreed on a strategy to communicate in advance to the public, but particularly to public sector workers, the necessity to implement tough decisions to reduce a budget deficit of around €25bn.

The public sector pay and pensions bill now runs at around €20bn a year.

In what was clearly an initiative to show that the Cabinet was itself prepared to "share the pain", it has emerged that ministers have agreed to further cuts in their own pay.

Some reports suggest that ministers' pay will be cut by 20 per cent, but the Sunday Independent understands that ministers face a further cut of between 10 and 15 per cent, bringing to just over 37 per cent the reduction in their pay and pensions in almost two years.

After last week's Cabinet meeting, Finance Minister Brian Lenihan delivered a speech to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce reiterating his belief that scope for further tax increases was non-existent, other than the imposition of a new carbon tax.

Mr Lenihan was supported by the leader of the Green Party, Environment Minister John Gormley, and Health Minister Mary Harney.

Ms Harney warned, for the first time, that Ireland could be forced to go to the International Monetary Fund for help if the country did not implement the necessary cuts in the December Budget.

Now Mr Cowen has also moved to explain why he believes the Government must take radical steps, and he also publicly disagreed with Mr Begg's assertion that cuts of up to €4bn this year, next year and the year after should be spread beyond 2013 to 2017.

Former Taoiseach Garret FitzGerald yesterday said the Government's "fiscal options" were narrowing and that calls to postpone cuts ignored the harsh reality.

Mr Cowen told the Sunday Independent: "Failure to act in this Budget would just delay our problems. I am confident that, if we take the right decisions, we can recover quicker. There is no sense in delaying the adjustment.

"The Government and indeed every member of the Dail has an obligation to act responsibly in the interest of the nation. We will do this.

"We have a clear choice coming to the Budget -- pay now or pay much more later. The Government and I feel the responsible thing to do is to make the adjustments now and move on in a more sustainable way.

"Growth will return quicker and be more sustainable if we attack the deficit head on. Everything we know about economics confirms this.

"No economic or social interest can claim exemption from this national effort. We all have our part to play.

"There comes a time when you can't continue to borrow at the rates we are doing. That time has come. This Government is acting in the long term interest of the country by confronting the reality we face."

Mr Cowen offered what he called "one simple example." He said the national debt had doubled in the past two years to €76bn. If no action was taken, this figure would double again to €160bn by 2013 and our annual interest bill would be €10bn.

Sunday Independent