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Tue 09 Sep 2008Half-truths about public service and pay serve us ill
Several universally acknowledged truths that are not really true at all dominate the financial crisis debate, writes FINTAN O'TOOLE
IN WHAT passes for public debate around the pay talks and the crisis in government finances, two truths are universally acknowledged. One is that, as Enda Kenny put it at the weekend, the public sector is "bloated" and "inefficient". The other is that wages generally are too high and are rising faster than those of our competitors. As usual, when truths are universally acknowledged, they are not really true at all.
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