Public service pension levy is not a pay cut

RECENTLY in various articles the public sector pension levy has been referred to as a “pay cut”.

Despite what the Government would have us believe, this is not the case. If a genuine pay cut had been imposed then pension benefits would have been reduced accordingly.

With the levy there is no knock-on effect on pensions. In fact, this levy should have been higher and introduced a long time ago.

Also, the private sector workers (those who have jobs) are paid approximately 20% less than employees in the public sector. Benchmarking is still in force and this situation should be rectified straight away.

It is time Brian Cowen stopped going hat-in-hand to the public sector unions and did what he was appointed to do – run the country for the benefit of everyone.

Richard Morris

Fennells Bay

Crosshaven

Co Cork