Administrative Reform and e-Government Minister Dimitris Reppas on Tuesday ruled out large-scale public-sector layoffs while briefing a Parliamentary Committee noting that the labour reserve measure had "run its course" and would not be extended.

"There is no issue of lay-offs. In the agenda drawn up by this government and this ministry there is no policy of lay-offs," he underlined.

Concerning the labour reserve, Reppas noted that it would border on the ridiculous if every 53-year-old employee of the public sector automatically entered into retirement and left, saying this kind of policy had reached its limits.

"We cannot examine such policies using only financial criteria. We did not expect great things from a fiscal point of view," he underlined, adding that the state could not be led to functional collapse through the departure of experienced staff.

Reppas pointed to an impressive reduction in the number of public-sector employees relative to 2009, saying this had saved roughly 2bn euro, and noted that the government's commitment was to reduce public-sector employees by 150,000 up until 2015.

The minister said his top three priorities were also the commitments the country had made under the EU-IMF Memorandum, which included the labour reserve, the new uniform public-sector wage scale and a rapid reorganisation of state infrastructure.

"By the end of January or early February we will be ready to present the administrative reforms that will create an efficient, non-bureaucratic state," he said