Madam, – In response to Dr Robert Scully (August 16th) the matter of consultants’ pay was dealt with, albeit indirectly, by Tony O’Brien in an interview with this newspaper published some 10 days ago. We pay high salaries in order to attract the best doctors, who would otherwise immediately defect to better paid jobs elsewhere. As a result, Ireland has the best doctors in Europe.
For the same reason, we also have the best civil servants, the smartest lawyers, the brightest bankers, the most accomplished developers and the cleverest and most hardworking politicians. If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. And so we sail with absolute confidence into our bright future. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Dr Robert Scully’s letter on consultants’ salaries (August 16th) prompts a reflection. When we hear of consultants and captains of industry earning two or three hundred thousand euro a year, the reaction is frequently one of media-driven condemnation of the greedy fat cats in our midst. When we hear of footballers, many of whose brains seem to be limited entirely to their boots, earning similar sums in a month (some of them can even command that sort of money in a week) they are adoringly portrayed in glossy magazines as deservedly enjoying the lifestyle we should all aspire to, even if only in our dreams.
Would someone care to issue official guidelines on when it is appropriate to switch on which reaction? – Yours, etc,