Sir, – Not surprisingly I’ve heard the pay increases in the draft public sector pay agreement being referred to as “pay improvements”. After all, the annual pay increases in the public sector (costing €250 million per year over the last number of years) have always been referred to as “pay increments”
All of this will be funded out of the “fiscal space”, another dreamt-up phrase, which really means borrowed money that we can’t afford. Semantics. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN CULLEN,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 16.
Sir, – Why not just take the sting out of the pay deal and call the pay increments “top-ups”? Official Ireland loves top-ups. Pay rises for the lower orders are bad, but top-ups to the pay and pension pots of the boss class are always good. – Yours, etc,
MARY BYRNE,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.