Sir, - In mid-June 1997 Mr Charlie McCreevy, our Minister for Finance, was kind enough to say on air that "those who had brought about our economic success should share in its fruits" - which tied in nicely with the statement in April 1997 by Dr Tony Fahey of the ESRI:
"The time given by mothers to their children in the 1970s and 1980s laid the ground for the Celtic Tiger nature of the Irish economy today. Women working in the home had invested in this economic success, and were therefore entitled to benefit from it in the form of pensions in their maturity".
The lavish attention and salary increases awarded to nurses, public service employees and gardai in the intervening 16 months compares starkly with the total absence of any acknowledgement of the above-mentioned mothers - a fact which came to mind on hearing the question asked on Five Seven Live this week: "Is there any historical evidence that the Government deals differently with pay claims from different groups?" - Yours, etc., Anne Cahill,
Laurel Park,
Clondalkin,
Dublin 22.