A chara, – JA O'Grady (April 10th) seems to be of the opinion that under the benchmarking process "the rewards for public servants were significant indeed".
For the record, the total pay rise awarded to public sector workers over the two rounds of benchmarking (2002 and 2007) averaged at just 8.9 per cent. A combination of multiple pay cuts and levies have more than obliterated this.
In fact, the 2007 report of the benchmarking body awarded public servants no increase whatsoever as “a discount of 12 per cent was applied for pension entitlements”.
In other words, because of the benchmarking process, public service workers had to forego the possibility of a significant pay increase in recognition of the cost of their pensions to their employer. – Is mise,
KEVIN P McCARTHY,
Killarney,
Co Kerry.