style="font-weight: bold;">The government is coming under pressure from the Opposition over its failure to implement cuts in allowances paid to public servants.

Yesterday it emerged that just 1 out of 800 allowances paid to existing public servants will be slashed.

The Minister for Public Expenditure Brendan Howlin says just €3.5 million in cuts will be brought in.

This is against the proposed €75 million savings target.

Fianna Fail says it is “a stunning example of the government’s litany of broken promises”.

Meanwhile Sinn Fein says some allowances are out of date and should not be kept but others are useful and should be maintained.

Minister Howlin had reviewed all the allowances and decided to cut just one ”“ a payment to officials going abroad to chair meetings.

Public servants will continue to receive payments such as the Garda boot allowance, the Prison Officers Tuck Shop payment and theallowance for local authority workers who cannot eat lunch at their desk.

The Sinn Fein Deputy Leader Mary-Lou McDonald is calling for a full list of public service allowances to be made public and debated.

She insists that big savings will not be made simply by snipping public service allowances.

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