The chairman of 'An Bord Snip Nua', Colm McCarthy, has said it is understandable that people are concerned about a lot of the recommendations for public spending cuts.
However, he would not be drawn on political or union reaction to his report or threats of industrial action.
At the MacGill Summer School in Glenties, Mr McCarthy re-iterated his view that current Government borrowing is unsustainable.
He said that when the Budget comes along in December it is a matter for political decision as to what measures to proceed with. We are in this situation, he said, and we have to get out of it.
The head of IMPACT, the biggest public service union, told the Summer School that the choice now for Government is conflict or co-operation but he said his refusal to rule out pay cuts speaks volumes.
Peter McLoone said there is a willingness on the part of public servants to engage in the transformation agenda.
However, he said they would only do that on the basis that the Government agrees it will not reduce pay and pensions and will provide a framework within which the workers can deal with the proposed reduction in jobs.
Mr McLoone says that if the Government attempts to go down the road of pay and pension cuts or compulsory redundancies, the reaction will include sustained, widespread and painful industrial action.
Labour leader Eamon Gilmore told the MacGill Summer School that it is not possible to get out of the recession by just implementing cuts.
He said: 'There is a new mantra coming now, that we must base the adjustment on cuts in expenditure, rather than taxation. Frankly, that isn't credible - the size of the problem is too great for that.
'If Government embarks on a process of slash and burn in public services, then it will lack credibility, because it won't be sustainable,' he said.
Mr Gilmore also called for the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs to be replaced by a new Public Sector Reform Department.
He said public sector reform needs to be driven by a person or an agency, and that there is space for the axing of the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs.
