The Special Group on Public Service Numbers and Expenditure Programmes (also known as An Bord Snip Nua) was an advisory committee established by the Irish government in 2008 to recommend cuts in public spending. It was chaired by economist Colm McCarthy. It published two volumes of findings, commonly known as the McCarthy report, on 16 July 2009.
Contents
The group described a potential €5.3bn of savings, including 17,300 public service job cuts and a 5% cut in social welfare.
Name
The committee, colloquially dubbed "An Bord Snip Nua" by newspaper journalists, was a committee with a similar remit to one established in 1987, known as "An Bord Snip". Bord Snip is a mix of English and Irish words that can be translated as "snip board". Bord Snip Nua means the new Bord Snip. The name is intended to be humorous. Many state agencies in Ireland have the words an bord (meaning "the board") in their title, such as Bord Iascaigh Mhara (the Irish Sea-Fisheries Board); "snip" refers to the cost-cutting remit of the group.
Background
Due to the global financial crisis, a construction sector collapse and a fall in bank lending, an Irish financial crisis began in 2008. Tax revenue from value-added tax (a form of sales tax), stamp duty and capital gains tax fell sharply. An additional income levy on 1% and 2% was introduced to compensate for some of these falls. The government expected a €6 billion budget deficit for the fiscal year 2009.
There were thus calls for the formation of a new "Bord Snip" to identify areas for cuts in public expenditure. The Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan, appointed an expert group to recommend cuts.
Members of the group
Brief
The Taoiseach Brian Cowen, stated that the: "Special Group's examination of all programmes funded through public expenditure will focus on whether scarce financial resources are being deployed to achieve priority policy objectives. The Group will identify options for savings in the context of the Government's fiscal objectives as set out in Budget 2009. It will also ensure that public expenditure is being used to address relevant priority policy objectives in the current fiscal environment."
Implementation
In March 2010, Lenihan said that, of the report's 271 recommendations, the government had decided to implement 32 in full and 89 in part, with projected savings for the year estimated at €1.7b. In June, Lenihan said that the government had implemented 42 in full and 103 in part, and that the report remained under consideration. Later that year, various ministers answered Dáil questions outlining the savings made by their departments: