Public sector culture - Government must tackle inefficiencies

THE chasm between the world public and civil servants inhabit, and the one their fellow citizens live in has been brought into focus by our economic difficulties.

State employee unions insist they are efficient, responsible, accountable, committed to the common good and deserve everything they are paid. Others demand state jobs be slashed, meaningful reform imposed and that anyone paid more than €50,000 a year by the State should have their wages cut by 10%.

It would be nice to suggest that the truth lies somewhere near halfway between these extremes, but that becomes more difficult with every day that passes. This was underlined yesterday when Niamh Brennan, professor of management and director of academic centre for corporate governance at UCD, addressed a seminar on public sector accountability.