The Government is planning to reduce the number of people employed in health boards by up to 1,600 as part of a fresh round of cutbacks.
This follows a request by the Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, asking all Government Departments to identify posts which would remain unfilled in an attempt to cut the number of people employed in the public service by 5,000.
Department of Finance sources say the cuts, due to be announced next month, will be targeted at administrative posts in health boards, local authorities and the Civil Service.
However, The Irish Times has learned that the Department of Health has identified between 1,500 and 1,600 posts which would remain unfilled.
It is understood that the positions will be distributed across all grades and there will be no decrease in frontline staff, such as nurses or doctors.
Mr McCreevy has said he hopes to achieve the reductions through natural wastage, however officials are said to be considering incentives for employees to leave in areas where there is not a high turnover of staff.
The Department of Finance is reviewing the response of all Departments and State agencies to the appeal for reductions in their numbers.
A source said local authorities were also "ripe for looking at", however a final decision has yet to be made on where all the cuts will be targeted.
A Department of Environment and Local Government spokesperson said county and city managers would be responsible for identifying local authority cuts, but no overall figure had been calculated.
Mr McCreevy is due to send a memorandum to Cabinet next month outlining the proposed reductions and a Government decision is expected shortly afterwards.
Opposition politicians have speculated that the length of time it has taken to identify the reduction has been as a result of resistance from some Departments.
The Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, has told Mr McCreevy that he is not willing to reduce the strength of the Defence Forces and has asked for a small increase in staff.
The decision to reduce numbers employed in the public service by 5,000 was originally announced by Mr McCreevy in last December's Budget.
He has sought to deflect criticism of the move by arguing that a 5,000 decrease is not substantial in the context of an increase of 50,000 staff over the last five years.
The Minister has also insisted there will be no decrease among frontline staff and that the reduction in numbers would be distributed across all levels in order to avoid junior posts being targeted.
Fine Gael's spokesman on finance, Mr Richard Bruton, said yesterday that taking numbers out of the system might save money, but would not tackle the fundamental issue of reform of State structures.
