Madam, - In his article "Pampered public sector is bad for the economy" (Opinion & Analysis, October 6th), Economics Editor Marc Coleman employed a rather laboured analogy when comparing the tottering Roman Empire of yore to the current Celtic Tiger.
In particular, he focused on the empire's maintenance of a well-paid and highly privileged retinue to bolster the imperial regime.
On consideration, would this analogy not be more usefully applied to Irish Ferries? In that instance, the company has argued consistently that unless it makes drastic savings it will be broke within two years. Yet in 2004 top managers with the company were awarded lavish pay increases: the chief executive saw his pay rise from €652,000 to €687,000; the finance director's salary rose from €283,000 to €321,000; while the marketing director saw his wage packet increase from €224,000 to €244,000.
More baffling was the fact these sums also included generous performance pay for the favoured retinue.
Simultaneously, the company attempted to force through a plan that would cut workers' pay by 50 per cent. This would have resulted in an employee earning €3.60 an hour, while the chief executive received some €350 per hour - almost 100 times that of the average Irish Ferries worker.
Even the imperial regime might have baulked at that. - Yours, etc,
PETER BUNTING, Assistant General Secretary, Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Parnell Square, Dublin 1.