DAVID MARLBOROUGH,
Sir, - The arrogance of this Government continues apace!
A couple of years ago when this country was, as we were told, "awash with money", workers were denied wage increases on the basis that the competitiveness of the economy would suffer as a result.
Now the situation is reversed, yet Charlie McCreevy informs us that "unless worker expectations are reined in we'll lose our competitiveness". And the Taoiseach tells public sector workers that he would be happy to remunerate them if there was spare money in the coffers. Déjà vu.
Consider the Bertie Bowl, and the munificence bestowed upon his colleagues under the Buckley Report when the rest of us were busy reining in our expectations in the national interest. Sorry lads, it's payback time!
Finally, can any of the luminescent minds that run this green and pleasant land solve the following conundrum: If workers can't have reasonable increases during the "good times", as it might threaten competitiveness, and then again, they can't have them when leaner times set in, when is the right time? - Yours, etc.,
DAVID MARLBOROUGH, Kenilworth Park, Dublin 6W.