‘No public service improvement’ despite pay hikes

THE chief executive of small firms’ group ISME has attacked the civil service, claiming there has been no measurable improvement in public services despite huge pay awards under benchmarking agreement.

At a speech in Limerick over the weekend, ISME chief Mark Fielding said he saw no measurable improvement in public services, with little or no monitoring, measurability or accountability in return for pay rises awarded to employees in recent years. He said the average public sector pay was now 43% ahead of the private sector and since 1997 it has risen by 112%, almost five times the rate of inflation. The average public sector wage is €43,000 a year compared to the industrial average of just over €29,000.

“This simply is unsustainable and if allowed to continue will significantly impact on future fiscal policy, with increased taxation being the only leverage available. This in turn will lead to compensatory spiralling wage demands in the private sector, thereby further undermining our competitiveness. It is the private sector that is paying for the huge costs of servicing the public sector,” he said.