THE GOVERNMENT HAS not yet fully made up its mind how much the Budget adjustment is going to be for next year.

Officials in the Department of Finance have confirmed to The Irish Times that they are looking at three possible figures. The lowest would involve an adjustment of €3 billion, while the highest being touted is €7 billion. That larger figure was put forward initially by Fine Gael spokesman Michael Noonan who told RTE radio yesterday that he had been told at a briefing with officials last Monday that a first-year adjustment of €7 billion would be needed.

The Department of Finance is saying that it is more likely to be looking at a mid-range adjustment figure of about €4.5bn. A spokesman for the department said that it would be up for the Government, and not the department, to make the final decision on which consolidation package to choose.

The Cabinet will meet on the evening of bank holiday Monday and all day Tuesday to discuss the upcoming Budget. Taoiseach Brian Cowen said yesterday that the Government – and this is supported by the main Opposition parties are committed to reaching the 2014 target of reducing the current budget deficit to 3 per cent of GDP. Yesterday the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) said it might be more feasible to extend the deadline to 2016. It also estimated that Ireland needs to make cutbacks of €15 billion over four budgets.