Sir, – Great hardship is about to be inflicted on people who did not fail our country. Yet they will be expected to stand idly by while so many of our politicians and top civil servants are awarded pension money far in excess of what any ordinary person needs to survive. Most of them are the same people who were highly paid while in positions in which they either abused or failed the Irish nation.
The time has come for a major civilised decision to be taken on monies awarded to so many undeserving people. This Government must immediately reduce these pensions by at least 50 per cent from early 2012. If these overpaid individuals decide to fight this in court then so be it; we must demand our Government call an immediate referendum with powers to retrospectively claim back a very large chunk of the extravagant resources already paid out since this crisis began.
I have never protested on the streets of Ireland and have lived here all my life, but make no mistake: tens of thousands of angry people like me will do so in the very near future. The only political act that will stop me doing so is to see justice brought to bear by reducing payments to the grossly overpaid. It is estimated that these extravagant pensions will cost this country billions over the next 10 years.
The difference in the value of the “unsigned” contract between our Government and the disadvantage, compared to the “signed” agreement with the top civil servants and ministerial failures, is immoral, mercenary and constitutionally obscene. – Yours, etc,