Madam, Taking a cold, harsh look at the recent past, might there be good reason to look forward to the time when Ireland is governed by second-class civil servants (Front page, August 6th)?
Maybe the HSE might then be endowed with down-to-earth executives who get the nitty-gritty of everyday administration under control. Perhaps there will be an economist at the Department of Finance who is not bowled over by irrational optimism.
And there might even be an occasional regulator or planner who is not impressed by the steamrolling antics of banks and property developers. More urgently, can we then look forward to a second-class public prosecutor with the courage and persistence to follow up such obvious corruption in high places as the forgery of receipts? In short, the selection of normal, modest civil servants with long-term perspectives might do the country a great deal of good. Send the high-flyers off to work for property developers, banks, hedge funds, oil companies or anywhere else they might get the incomes they feel that they deserve. Preferably in another country. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The chairman of the Higher Public Servants Remuneration Committee has voiced concerns that future generations of top civil servants may be “second division” material”. Although he does not say how this huge improvement is expected to come about, I heartily commend him on his optimism. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Tony O’Brien does not get it. In an edition of The Irish Times that reported on increased white collar and overall unemployment — and the refusal by the Department of Finance to engage with Dublin City Council with a novel idea to combat housing problems (Home News, August 6th) — he bemoans a possible undermining of civil and public servant talent. Look where the “great minds” have gotten us up to now. If we are to believe them, it is not simply about the money: it is the public service nature of the job that fuels ambition. This will always attract the best people. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – A past non-executive director of a failed bank warns us that future civil servants may be second-rate. Well at least the trajectory seems upwards, from third-rate to second-rate. Hopefully sometime in the future they’ll be first-rate. – Yours, etc,