Madam, – I wonder whether Brian Mangan (September 23rd) would be as interested in equality of wages if Ireland’s economy was still thriving? I doubt he wrote to you to plead the side of the teachers when the idea of bench-marking was first mooted.
It was not the public sector’s fault that this country was so irresponsibly steered into recession and I doubt we’ll be the first group to benefit once economic growth recovers.
Maybe if Mr Mangan were to return to the classroom to learn how averages are calculated, the teacher would inform him that both the lowest and highest wages in the private sector are taken into account. As the private sector, with its extensive workforce, employs a greater number of workers in the lower income bracket, obviously this will ensure a lower average wage for the private sector.
Perhaps Mr Mangan’s magic number of 20 per cent as a wage cut should be applied to the highest earners in the country (public and private sector employees). This at least would ensure some semblance of justice, although it would not (perhaps to Mr Mangan’s dismay) include many teachers and other low- to middle-income public servants. Furthermore, while Mr Mangan’s concern regarding pupil-teacher ratios and unemployed educators is commendable, he should note that the proposed pay cut will not be reinvested in education but rather used to re-finance the banks. Other public services will suffer a similar fate. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Brian Mangan states that public sector workers are now paid 25 per cent more than the private sector. This is incorrect.
The ESRI report was compiled in 2006 and did not take into account that those in the public sector are more qualified and it specifically took out of the equation the self-employed professional in the private sector. The premium it affords to the public sector pension did not take into account the fact that the old age pension is not paid in addition to the public service pension. The true cost of a public sector pensioner receiving a pension of €600 a week is really just €370 as they would have received the old age pension even if they had contributed nothing. The ESRI report relates to 2006. Since then, in 2007, the second benchmarking body reported and applied a discount of 12 per cent for pension entitlement which resulted in over 300,000 serving and 100,000 retired public servants getting no increase whatsoever. Furthermore, a pension levy of up to 8 per cent was applied on the salaries of public servants earlier this year. Public servants now pay pension contribution and pension levies of 14 per cent, full PRSI of 6 per cent,and get a pension of half of salary after 40 years contributions (they do not get the old age pension in addition to this).
Like other employees they pay tax, an income levy and a health levy. It is unsurprising therefore that for the first time I have heard public sector employees saying that they have missed mortgage payments – and this at a time of historically low interest rates. – Yours, etc,