DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland risks having a budget deficit above "10 percent of national income" in each of the next five years unless it takes further steps to raise tax revenue and cut spending, Prime Minister Brian Cowen said on Wednesday.
"In the absence of further appropriate measures, we face the prospect of a General Government Deficit over 10 percent of national income for each of the next five years," Cowen said according to the text of his speech at a business forum.
"There is simply no basis whatsoever on which this could be considered sustainable," he added.
(Reporting by Andras Gergely)
