Time has come to draw a line under austerity

Not surprisingly, the Croke Park II deal has been firmly rejected by public sector unions and, in theory at least, the Government now finds itself in a bit of a bind in relation to how it is going to come up with a further €1bn in savings on the public sector pay bill over the next three years.

The rejection is not surprising because, anecdotally, it has been clear for some time that public sector workers have reached breaking point in relation to fiscal austerity and what they perceive as the undermining of their role in society as public sector workers. How can we expect our teachers to go into the classroom in a positive frame of mind, given the extent to which their working conditions and value have been dismantled in the past five years?

A couple of weeks ago, I argued in this column that teachers in particular would be justified in rejecting Croke Park II. Shortly afterwards, somebody accused me of being inconsistent in my thinking, given that I had argued for public sector pay cuts back in 2008. I certainly did argue for public sector pay cuts back in 2008, particularly a complete reversal of the extra pay granted under the fiasco that was benchmarking in 2002.