Public servants must now show public spirit

TALK BACK:As a teacher and a public servant, I would be happy to forego the terms of the current wage round, given that the expected rise in living costs, anticipated when my union negotiated the current deal on my behalf, has not materialised. In fact, I would be happy to consider a cut in salary, if as currently projected, Ireland experiences a fall in the consumer price index in 2009, which would result in an increase in the purchasing power of my current salary.

Neither of these actions would actually lead to any decrease in my standard of living, which, as we all must now face, is inevitable if we are to have any chance of restoring Ireland’s economy to competitiveness. This is the stark reality facing all public servants today, no matter how those representing us may want to project matters.

Even as I write this article, the global economy seems to be spinning out of control, leaving Ireland, in particular, in the most serious financial crisis. Our banks have imploded, leaving an entire generation of senior citizens bereft of their life’s savings, which were invested in savings products almost wholly dependant on our indigenous financial institutions. Government tax revenues are in freefall, as jobs disappear by the thousands, and yet we are presented with the spectacle of both union leaders and politicians playing to the galleries, promising their various constituencies that they will not give an inch.

I want to live in a country where we can again dream dreams as outlined in the programme of the first Dáil. We are not going to get there by attempting to protect our self-interest through stonewalling.

There is understandable fury among my fellow teaching colleagues, and among other public servants, as they survey the destruction wrought on our economy and our society by the greed and wreckless financial activities of the few. We do not understand why we should pay the price for the actions of those who engaged in such reckless and criminal behaviour. In truth we have no choice, if we ever again want to live in a country that values the basic principles of community and care for our fellow citizens.

We are all going to take a cut in our standard of living over the coming years. The amount any of us receive in wages or salary is irrelevant; all that matters is its purchasing power. Consider Zimbabwe where wages have grown enormously in recent years, but where people live in dire poverty. The Zimbawean government prints money at will, and in doing so devalues the wages of every worker and destroys the savings of an entire country.

Do we want our Government to seek ways to devalue the purchasing power of our current salaries, so as to reduce the real costs of public sector wages? How then do we ensure that the pain is evenly spread and protects the most vulnerable in our society?

First, the taxation system has to be brought into play, to ensure that those on the highest incomes contribute the most. I support the call to increase the top rate of tax of tax to 48 per cent, which will hit teachers like me at the top of the pay scales, in both the private and public sectors.

Second, I have come to the conclusion that we can no longer justify paying any public servant, an income of more than €100,000 per year.

I write this not out of jealousy or spite, but out of the simple belief that any person drawing on the public purse, whatever their circumstances, can live with dignity and raise a family in Ireland, on an income of €100,000 per year.

The sheer scale of what we are being asked to come to terms with over the coming years demands that those currently receiving salaries in excess of €100,000 per year in any publicly-paid position – from the Taoiseach down – accept a cut to €100,000.

We were all inspired by US Airways Captain Chesley B Sullenberger’s actions in walking the aircraft twice, to ensure all in his care were safe before he left the aircraft which had plunged into the icy waters of the Hudson River in New York.

Let those who aspire to lead us now show the same level of commitment to the recovery of our society and our economy and they will find that we as teachers (or other public servants) will not be found wanting.

• Brian Mooney is a guidance counsellor at Oatlands College, Dublin and a former president of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors. See also his Countdown to College column on the news pages