Public sector must drive reform

Pay cuts are only one part of the equation. Workers and the system must make a good return, writes Gerard Howlin.

SENIOR public servants are being cast into the pit of shame previously reserved for priests, politicians and bankers. Adding insult to injury, they face having to share this reputational hell with some journalists. Unaccustomed to the limelight let alone the inquisitorial spotlight, it is a departure with which they are acutely uncomfortable.

High salaries, generous pensions and a personal share of the blame for Ireland’s boom, bust and bang, have punctured their self-esteem and the public’s regard for them.