Public sector bonuses - Senior staff should lead by example

Every week there seems to be a sensational disclosure that calls the judgment of political leaders into question.

Yesterday there was the revelation that bonuses were paid last year to high-grade civil servants throughout the state and semi-state sectors.

The details of those payments were given to Fine Gael education spokesman, Fergus O’Dowd, in answer to a Dáil question. Some 98 of the payments were to senior members of staff at the Department of Finance, which has directed some of the most savage cuts in the history of the state.