Sir, - I am reduced to writing to the letter page of The Irish Times to highlight issues I would have expected to read about in other sections of your paper.
Last week at ISME's AGM the Associations Chairman in a wide ranging, speech, pointed out that each private sector employee was paying the equivalent of £31 per week in taxes to fund the very high average wage in the public sector. He stated that it represented the triumph of bureaucracy over enterprise. He reminded the delegates that Ruairi Quinn in December had recognised the problem when he called for a public sector wage freeze. Unbeknownst to the Minister, his party leader, coalition colleagues and social partners, agreed an overly generous settlement with the public sector union bosses whilst Minister Quinn was engrossed in negotiating the EMU stability pact. These very people now decry the current spate of public sector disputes which are a direct result of undermining Ruairi Quinn's stance.
Last week, ISME issued a statement showing that the budget lines for various industry support programmes had been cut to fund the purses pay deal. That has been confirmed by the Department of Finance and Department of Tourism and Trade.
Finally, the Chairman, in his address to the AGM pointed out that in large part the current boom in the economy is in large part due to the 200,000 jobs created in the private sector since 1988, the vast majority in SME's. He pointed out the irony of the Government's response to public sector relativity claims which is to threaten the withholding of tax reductions from all. In effect in addition to the £31 per week tax penalty on private sector employees required to fund the exorbitant average wages in the public sector, i.e. £27,000 per annum, the tax cuts which they expect are to be with held because of existing and promised unrest in the public sector. - Yours, etc.,
Chief Executive ISME, Kildare Street,
Dublin 2.