Public sector pay - Outrage not only about money

LAST week, just as Transport Minister Noel Dempsey struggled to explain why he did not know what was going on in his department about Aer Lingus proposals for Shannon, the person blamed for the oversight — rightly or wrongly — found a ready-made source of comfort.

In that same week, culminating for Mr Dempsey in yesterday’s stomach-churning climb-down on provisional driving licences, the department’s general secretary, Julie O’Neill, was awarded a pay rise of €58,234.

This represents an increase of 27.5% and brought the official’s salary to €270,000 a year, €30,000 more than the minister’s.