Letters
Public-sector pay
Dear Sir,
"One down, two to go" was how Minister for Europe Dick Roche summed up the Lisbon Referendum's successful passing, with a nod towards the other parts of a triptych comprising Lisbon, Nama and the Budget.
Looking ahead to next weekend, one would logically have to assume that the Greens will pass Nama at their special convention as the memory of the local election mauling, in which all but three of their seats were lost, should exercise minds about their prospects if they force a general election.
So, taking Lisbon and Nama as a given, the real focus between now and the year end is the Budget.
Commentary to date on this has largely come from vested interests who choose to ignore fiscal reality and resort to sound bites about how they aren't responsible for the crisis. Apportioning blame is seen by some as more important than charting a path through choppy fiscal waters to steer the good ship Ireland back to safety.
We have witnessed a steady stream of public-sector workers solemnly declare that they couldn't cope with even a drop of €20 in their weekly wages in the next Budget. One wonders how these people coped when interest rates were at far higher levels if this really is the case.
Moreover, we have levels of deflation in Ireland at this time unseen since the time of the Economic War of the 1930s with Britain. Yet shrill emotive language that doesn't tally with a simple glance at household economics passes for much of the public discourse at this time.
As a former Taoiseach observed in another dark time, we are living way beyond our means. We have a system in which Irish nurses earn what German hospital consultants make, while Ireland's hospital consultants enjoy a higher level of basic pay than Barack Obama. Similar analogies can be made with the political class and other categories of public-sector workers.
Research from the ESRI suggests a 25% pay differential between public- and private-sector workers while the ratio of public to private sector workers in Ireland stands now at alarming levels. We have a labour force of 2.2 million, of which 265,000 are unemployed. Of the remaining 1.9 million in employment, some 230,000 work in the health and social sectors, 150,000 work in education, 110,000 work in public administration and 95,000 work in transport.
Granted, not all of the people in those four sectors are public-sector workers but the majority are. Taking that into account, along with nearly two million people not in the labour force, means that roughly every person in the productive sector is supporting two other people. A ratio like that means that tax increases are unlikely to plug the fiscal gap (as many private-sector workers will then conclude they're better off on the dole), so the tough decisions have to fall on the spending side.
With wages accounting for a third of public expenditure, this area cannot be ignored.
The question that needs to be asked of the public-sector unions is this: do we cut frontline services while continuing to pay our public servants significantly more than their peers in other advanced economies or are they willing to take a pay cut to ensure that the old, sick, young and marginalised continue to receive a decent level of service? I look forward to this debate as we move towards the most important Budget in 20 years.
Yours,
John Galt
Dublin 4
Expenses scandal
Dear Sir,
The culture of extravagance in this Fianna Fáil Government has again been brought under the spotlight with the latest expenses scandal involving the Ceann Comhairle John O'Donoghue.
Nothing should surprise the public about this current Government. There have been too many cases where the taxpayer seems to come a distant second in the pecking order. However, this latest scandal represents a culture that has developed in Leinster House and that in the cold light of a recession looks absolutely ridiculous and dishonest.
Why do we need a financial and economic crisis to tell us that €18,000 spent on accommodation and transport on a trip to America should not be paid for by the taxpayer? Do we need an unemployment rate of 12% to make us realise that the neutral Ceann Comhairle does not need a political advisor at the cost of €108,000 a year?
The fact that he is guaranteed to be elected to the next Dáil due to his position means that a political staff of 10 is not just unnecessary, it's insulting. How can the political elite of this country have any credibility when they allow actions such as these to be written into the rules of their workplace?
If this was any other country, O'Donoghue and those with their snouts in the trough would be gone long ago. The fact that it is within the rules makes the whole affair more sickening.
Drastic reform is needed at the very heart of politics, the only problem is that those politicians who take so readily from the country are the same politicians who are setting out the guidelines for the future.
Yours sincerely,
Liam Kelly,
Drogheda, Co. Louth
