Sir, – Cliff Taylor insists that the word "restoration" should be banned from future pay talks between public sector unions and the Government ("Why the Government must reject unions' pay restoration agenda", Opinion & Analysis, April 4th), and warns against turning the clock back to 2008 levels of public spending.
The legislation used to reduce the public sector pay bill, the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (Fempi) is, by definition, temporary. Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin has indicated his intentions to begin what he describes as a “gradual unwinding” of that legislation because the emergency conditions that ushered in the legislation no longer exist.
This doesn’t suggest any immediate prospect of a resetting of the clock, but it is an important first step toward pay recovery. There is a growing pattern of pay improvement across significant sections of the private sector, a pattern that is expected to continue this year. The improvements are modest (averaging 2.8 per cent) but welcome, and form an important part of the economic recovery that has begun to take hold.
It makes sense for public sector pay to keep in step with these developments, as the whole country needs a pay rise if economic recovery and jobs growth are to be sustained. – Yours, etc,
NIALL SHANAHAN,
Impact,
Nerney’s Court, Dublin 1.