The Government may have to borrow the money from the international markets to fund the recently-agreed Garda pay rise, it was claimed today.

Economist Colm McCarthy said the “unspoken intention” is to raise the money outside the country.

There is increasing pressure to boost wages for all public sector workers since the Gardaí negotiated a hike.

The timeline for new Public Sector Pay talks should be revealed by Minister Paschal Donoghue later today.

“As of right now, the Government has not said it would cut other services to pay for this,” said Mr McCarthy.

“It has not said that they will raise taxes to pay for this. It seems to me the unspoken intention is to borrow the money.”