Sanity on cost structures badly needed

AS our Government struggles to restore some sanity to our cost structure, they are encountering pretty formidable opposition.

Members of the judiciary are on salaries six times greater than their Polish counterparts and 1.5 times greater than the French ones, which should raise questioning eyebrows.

The recent bar chart which displayed the comparison between our wage growth and that of our eurozone counterparts from 1999 to 2008 indicated the lack of common sense that pervaded our society during the boom years.

We have had the representatives of our adopted religion playing hide and seek with the fulfilment of their obligation to pay their share of the compensation to the victims of the child abuse scandal, the true extent of which has not yet been revealed. According to Government statistics, 13,600 claims have been made, which averages at more than 500 for each of the 26 counties, and the Vatican continues with its policy of moving its dodgy hierarchy from one haven to another.

I believe that the upcoming Eucharistic Congress is a ruse to divert attention away from its present dilemma, but at what cost to our weakened economy?

The venomous criticism of Mr Kenny and Mr Gilmore and Mr Quinn, when they had the courage to challenge the activities of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland, does not augur well for the hope that the Church can redeem itself.

Richard Prendergast

Rathcormac

Co Cork