Wages are a poor show

This week the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform advertised clerical positions in the civil and public service. The starting salary is "in the region of €21,000 per annum". A couple both employed in such positions would earn a combined total of €42k per annum. After tax (incl. pension levy), their net weekly income is €699.65.

If the same couple have three or more children, they will qualify for FIS (Family Income Supplement). So, the wages paid by the State to this couple, who work a combined total of 86 hours a week, are so impoverishing as to render them incapable of adequately supporting their family.

To quote Joan Burton (Dáil Questions: 16 April 2014), “FIS is designed to prevent child and family poverty”. Perhaps civil servants’ wages should be designed to prevent child and family poverty.