The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform says the government is seeking voluntary redundancies in the public sector beginning with staff in the Health Service Executive (HSE), Education and Agriculture.

The Cabinet will discuss the proposals this morning which would see 2,000 public sector jobs lost on a voluntary basis.

If these plans are approved staff will be offered 3 weeks pay for each year of service on top of their statutory redundancies.

That is the same package that was offered to workers as part of the HSE redundancy scheme in 2010.

The government has already reduced public sector numbers by around 30,000 since 2008.

And it is hoping to shed the workforce through this targeted scheme by another 4,000 before 2015.

Croke Park talks continue

Meanwhile negotiations are continuing for a new Croke Park agreement.

The Taoiseach is warning that the government will introduce legislation to force pay cuts on workers if unions fail to agree to cuts of €1 billion under a new deal.

Minister Howlin says staff will be offered the same terms that HSE staff were offered in a previous scheme.

Speaking on his way into the Cabinet meeting this morning Public Expenditure Minister Howlin said this is the first time the government has looked for voluntary redundancies on a targeted basis.