TAOISEACH BRIAN Cowen has finally woken up to the reality that leadership can be more important than compromise and that a proposal to substitute 12 days of unpaid leave for pay cuts within the public service was undermining his authority with the electorate as a whole. Conflicting signals from the negotiations had generated public anger and so much unrest within Fianna Fáil that Cabinet members decided what was on offer was neither workable nor saleable. However, it would be premature to believe that yesterday’s position will be the story on Budget day.
Rejection of the unpaid leave proposal does not mean that public servants will automatically be subjected to a crude, across-the-board levy to raise €1.3 billion in next Wednesday’s budget. The Government will have learned much from these talks and savings are likely to be made in a selective fashion. Already, Fine Gael has suggested a sliding rate of deductions in its pre-budget submission and that approach is likely to be taken into account by Government.
Trade union reaction to the last-minute breakdown has been one of dismay. This is understandable because officials believed they were within touching distance of securing their members’ existing salary levels. But suggestions that reform is now off the agenda cannot be taken seriously. Savings have to be made not just in 2010 but in succeeding years. If further cuts are not to follow for the public service in 2011 and 2012, then changes to work practices and normal working hours will have to be agreed. A poorly structured public service is no longer an option while the private sector is on its knees.
Against a backdrop of Government vacillation, Fine Gael and the Labour Party sought to divert attention from the gulf that separates them on the issue of cutting public sector pay by making job creation and economic recovery the primary focus of their pre-budget submissions. As a political tactic, it was understandable. But the clear divisions that exist are likely to cause concern to an electorate that has been seeking firm and united leadership.
On the last occasion the parties found themselves in this position considerable efforts were made to ensure their policies were in broad agreement. But the blurring of boundaries before the election worked only for the benefit of Fine Gael. When they failed to form a government, Pat Rabbitte resigned as Labour Party leader. His successor, Eamon Gilmore is clearly determined to maintain good relations with the trade union movement and has opposed pay cuts. At the same time, however, he has acknowledged the need to reduce government expenditure by €4 billion in 2010.
The main Opposition parties have now advocated spending up to €1.3 billion on job creation and training programmes and removing as many as 60,000 from the dole queues. Their demands may ensure that the coming budget will include aspects of a multi-year development plan. That will be necessary to engender public confidence of better days ahead.