Public sector a scapegoat for the failure of others

I HAVE no wish to enter into a protracted correspondence with any individual over the issue of unpaid leave in the public service, but I feel I owe James McGrath the courtesy of a reply to his polemic (Letters, December 14).

Indeed there was a sort of public hysteria in response to the idea of unpaid leave, though I am certainly willing to acknowledge that some of the people joining in the outcry might have been well-intentioned rather than just misinformed.

The sad thing about the over-the-top reaction by so many people – and indeed by some of our public representatives – is that it seems to have been to a very skewed version of what in fact was being negotiated between the trade unions and the Government.

Not only were proposals for comprehensive reforms within the public sector being discussed, but the contentious issue of unpaid leave was not being discussed in a manner that resembled the version being spun in the media. It is upsetting that the impetus for urgently needed reforms has been squandered in so abrupt and myopic a fashion. While there are some good reasons for restricting the use of unpaid leave in some areas of the public service, the forms being proposed did not conflict with those reasons.

However, in the climate of hysteria that followed the mooting of the idea, this important fact was lost.

I suspect the reason for some people’s objections was that unpaid leave was unacceptable because it would let public servants off the hook. It is possible that some simply wanted their pound of flesh from public servants and were determined to have it irrespective of the lack of logic of such an approach.

What has been overlooked in all of this is the possibility that someone else stands to gain if public anger can be diverted towards one particular group and away, at least in part, from others.

Have we been duped into diverting our anger away from the senior bankers and the other powerful but irresponsible figures who have reduced our country to its current state?

Notwithstanding the fact that it is the unholy cabal of builders, bankers and government who have ruined this country we now have the ghastly sight of a huge number of (possibly even well-intentioned) people who want to lash out and blame someone, anyone, and the vendetta against the public service fits the bill. Why can’t people wake up and direct their anger at the real villains of the piece? It is in this context that I again seek to draw attention to the €4bn that disappeared from the public finances into the abyss that is Anglo Irish Bank. I accept that while we now need to make up a gap of €4 bn in the public finances, there would still have been an urgent need for reform in the public sector and the wider public finances anyway.

This is partly why the trade unions were engaged in a dialogue which they did not sabotage. A misguided, misinformed public outcry was cynically used by an arrogant and autocratic government to sabotage the negotiations. But some people would rather blame the public service. Blame the people in the witches’ hats, it is always easier than looking for the truth.

Or alternatively, take the more difficult option of standing in solidarity with those of us who believe everyone should work together to try to repair the damage caused by the greed and cynicism of the Celtic Tiger era rather than capitulate to the morally and economically bankrupt logic of the so-called free market.

Brendan Richardson

The Spires

Cobh

Co Cork