Minister of Finance Steingrímur J. Sigfússon told reporters that no date has yet been established for when several government ministries will be combined.
As reported, cabinet officials proposed merging the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Social Affairs into one ministry and combining the ministries of agriculture, industry and fishing into a Ministry of Employment. Social Democrats support the merge as a means to reduce spending, while the Leftist-Greens do not seem to favor the measure.
Steingrímur told RÚV that no decision has yet been taken on whether the proposal will be submitted to parliament this spring, or when it will happen. Sources close to Eyjan from both parties have said that no changes will occur before fall of this year.
Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir would like to move the matter through parliament as soon as possible, which was met with resistance within the Leftist-Greens. However, Steingrímur believes that reducing the number of ministries from 12 to 9 would save a great deal of money.