Union leader defends public service

A senior trade union leader has launched a broadside at a number of independent TDs who he claims are "scapegoating the public service for political advantage".

Public Service Executive Union (PSEU) general secretary Tom Geraghty referred to a recent survey which found half of respondents said they would pay more tax in return for good public services.

“This is a useful antidote to the two mantras so well aired in the media for lower taxes all round or for somebody else to pay — the latter being the most common response to suggestions of a need to raise revenue,” Mr Geraghty said in a blog on his union’s website.