Bloated public service costs us jobs

THE recent nurses’ ‘strike’ by the public service nurses highlights yet again the lack of economic reality endemic in the public service.

What the nurses demanded — more money for less work — is a contradiction in economic terms. Everybody knows nurses do a vital job and deserve to be well-paid, but not at any price. To concede to their claims would mean that the rest of the cosseted public service employees would demand the same, with catastrophic consequences for the already battered competitiveness of the Irish economy.

The recent construction boom has masked a marked deterioration in our business environment. As a small open economy, we are at the mercy of economic forces over which we have very little control despite what politicians said during the recent election campaign.

What we can control is our domestic cost base, which has soared out of control in recent years, and we will pay a heavy price unless the new government instils a dose of realism in the vested interests that infest the bloated public service.

Civil servants should remember they are paid out of the public purse, enjoy a positive wage differential with the exposed private sector of at least 20% and will receive an indexed pension, costing €1 million, upon retiring, paid for in the main by taxpayers in less privileged sectors of the workforce.

Furthermore, they are in guaranteed, permanent jobs. Private sector employees look on with a mixture of envy and shock at this scenario, particularly in the light of the spate of job losses recently announced in so-called blue chip companies like Motorola, Dell and Pfizer.

The crucial question is, will our politicians grasp the nettle of our much diminished competitive position in global markets and root out this bizarre sense of entitlement in the public service ?

Make no mistake, the boom times are over and we are back to normal economic conditions where hard choices will have to be made. Those in the private sector have always lived with this reality.

Is it too much to ask our civil servants and their political masters to at least acknowledge their privileged position and stop making outlandish claims which can only lead to more job losses and curtailed services?

David Hickey

Managing Director

Munster CO2 Ltd

Mayfield Business Park

Cork