Shorter working week demand: Just say no

Even if you accept that women are from Venus and men are from Mars it is sometimes hard to know where civil servants come from.

The latest demand from that feather-bedded sector, that the working week be reduced, suggests a disconnect with the real world that is a frustrating indication of why our public life is dysfunctional on so many levels.

The Forsa trade union’s first conference heard calls for a return to a six-hour and 57-minute working day after it was increased by around 27 minutes in 2013. Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe claims that 12,000 extra workers would be needed if the hours were reduced.

These seven-hours-a-day conditions simply do not exist in the private sector and any self-employed person would not even recognise them — just like many other privileges enjoyed by public servants.

Social division is never helpful but sectional demands like this exacerbate it.

Just say no, minister. And mean it.