Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson is proposing a freeze on civil service pay and recruitment across the wider public sector.
The DUP leader has been outlining a series of proposals to deal with the cutbacks in funding from the British Exchequer.
He says civil servants earning more than £21,000 per year should agree a pay freeze; 1,000 public service jobs should go each year as part of a non-replacement policy; and Belfast's port authority should give a portion of its profits to the Stormont Executive.
He told a business breakfast meeting this morning that the cumulative effect of the changes would save almost £500m over the next four years.
If the pay freeze is extended from the proposed two years for an additional two-year period, the measure would save £900m.
Mr Robinson said the choice may come down to sacking civil servants or a pay freeze policy.
The power-sharing parties are under pressure to agree a draft budget over the next three weeks.
Some of them have already set out ways to deal with the shortfall in funding from Westminster.
The current freeze on domestic rates would end but the increase would be capped at the rate of inflation but he is not recommending an introduction of water charges.
The DUP leader says he also plans to target quangos.
It is highly possible that many of the proposals will be agreed and implemented as there is crossover in these ideas with those of other parties.
However, Sinn Féin's Finance Spokesperson Mitchel McLaughlin expressed 'reservations' about the proposed pay freeze, saying those on low grade pay should not have to contribute more.
