Unions committed to Croke Park deal

I DIDN’T agree with the conclusions in your two-page feature on the Croke Park agreement (April 13). But the Irish Examiner is to be congratulated on a rare attempt to put the debate into some context for readers, and to report on the agreement’s achievements as well as its shortcomings.

The most important objective of the Croke Park deal is to save taxpayers’ money while ensuring that services are protected — and in some cases expanded — as spending and staff numbers fall.

Although it’s by far the biggest savings-generator in the Croke Park agreement, your feature’s “progress to date” round-up barely mentioned staff reductions or the reorganisation and staff redeployment that is ensuring that falling employment has a minimum impact on public services.