We need to avoid ‘death by a thousand cuts’

AS the scramble to contain government spending continues the announcement this week that the pay of senior managers in the semi-state commercial sector is to be cut by about €100,000 for incumbents will no doubt be broadly welcomed.

So far, the general populace have had to take hits to their pay and pensions while the most vulnerable become more marginalised as the battle for scarce funds leave those on the margins of society even more exposed.

In that sense the quest for a balancing of the scales is wholly understandable, but we have to be careful not to fall into the trap of “death by a thousand cuts”.