Public sector pay cuts - Remedial action vital

All senior public servants, including government ministers, heads of departments and hospital consultants are likely to be subjected to salary cuts in line with a report commissioned by the Minister for Finance.

Education Minister Batt O’Keeffe stated yesterday that “reverse benchmarking” would be implemented. Benchmarking was initially introduced to ensure that workers in the public service were paid commensurate with their counterparts in the private sector, but the pendulum has since shifted in the other direction.

It seemed appropriate that the Minister for Education made this announcement, because it indicates that members of the government are learning, even if they have been very slow learners.

Nobody should dispute the fairness of reverse benchmarking. Of course, it is still only talk, and this government has not been short of talk while engaging in almost interminable procrastination in the matter of performance.

Some of the cuts are likely to be resisted. Hospital consultants only recently agreed to a pay deal and reversing that is unlikely to be welcomed. But they cannot expect to go untouched.

Of course this must also apply to government ministers with their Mercs and perks and their pension system. They are likely to be confronted by some of their own backbench supporters.

Jackie Healy-Rae threatened yesterday to vote against the government, if An Bord Snip’s recommendation to cut the rural transport scheme is implemented.

It might have been easier for members of the Government to take necessary remedial action, if they had already accorded proper leadership in relation to their own salaries and perks.