Madam, – Ben Wrafter (October 25th) compares the average annual salaries for public and private sector workers from the CSO website and then concludes that the public sector is overpaid.
Such simplistic conclusions are not meaningful. He could equally have compared the wages received by private sector workers in large organisations relative to private sector workers in small organisations and concluded that the former are also overpaid.
The majority of public servants work in large organisations. Workers in large organisations, public or private, tend to have greater in-house promotional opportunities, more formalised pay scales, longer service and a greater skills base.
The levels of educational attainment at all levels are higher in our public service. More people in the public sector have third-level degrees: over 40 per cent compared to 20 per cent in the private sector. 30 per cent of public sector workers are professional while the figure for the private sector is just 7 per cent. Workers in the public service are on average four years older and have almost five years greater experience. All these factors affect pay rates.
It is interesting that large percentages are thrown about when comparing public and private sector wages without acknowledging the differences in job descriptions and qualifications between the two groups. – Yours, etc,