Pay and inflation

Sir, – In his outline of the forthcoming public sector pay negotiations, Pat Leahy wonders whether private sector employees, business owners and the self-employed will balk at devoting "their" taxes to extending the "already hefty" public sector premium ("Intricate dance of the pay deal about to begin again", Analysis, April 8th).

Personally, I wonder whether other private sector workers will balk at the implication that the State, whose wage-setting activities have been shown to set a signal for employers across the economy, should impose real-term wage cuts on workers in key sectors while the public finances are in surplus, all for the highly theoretical chance that this will reduce future inflation. – Yours, etc,

JAKE MULCAHY,

Stillorgan,

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Co Dublin.