The Finance Minister has warned that more pay cuts would be 'inevitable' if a campaign of industrial action in the public service resulted in the State finances deteriorating.
Speaking on RTÉ's The Week in Politics, Brian Lenihan said he would prefer to make savings next year through improved performance in the public service.
The Minister also said it would be 'very difficult' to alter the 5% pay cut on low earning public sector workers.
Green Party Chairman Dan Boyle told the programme that he hoped the Government might look at ways of making the cut 'more equal'.
Senator Boyle said it would be difficult to do, but possibly some form of tax credit could be included in the Finance Bill for this purpose.
IMPACT General Secretary Peter McLoone described the Minister's comments as 'unnecessarily provocative'.
Earlier, he said there will be a sustained response from the public sector following the announcement of pay cuts in Wednesday's Budget.
Speaking on RTÉ’s This Week, Mr McLoone said this will involve various forms of industrial action and did not rule out all out strikes.
He said the trade union movement will be announcing details of its response in the next couple of days.
Mr McLoone said there was no basis for unions to re-enter talks with Government in the short term, unless the Government recognised that the extent of the pay cuts were not sustainable.
He said ambitions for reform now lie in tatters as people in the public service are very angry, hurt and upset.
Mr McLoone also said we are now in a potentially explosive situation and that it was not going to be possible to engage in implementing a future plan in the current situation as the workforce will withdraw co-operation.
