Sir, – It amazes me that so little is made of the huge discrepancy between public sector and private sector pay (Dan O’Brien, Business, March 8th), much of which is due to the years of economic madness.
I don’t like to argue for anyone’s pay to be cut, but the two-tier pay structure is not just. We have an unequal society. It’s almost like the position in Ireland before we entered the EU where men were paid more than women for the same job.
Apart from better pay, pensions and security of employment, the public sector enjoys other benefits over the private sector that are not often aired such as shorter working hours, longer holidays, career breaks, more training and more paid-for courses during work hours.
O’Brien’s graph showing the earnings gap between the public and the private sector is astonishing. Of course the private sector doesn’t have the might of the public sector unions to negotiate for them. How competitive would the Republic be in attracting inward investment if the private sector’s earnings were to be raised to public sector levels?
James Moran (March 14th) declared his situation: I work in a manufacturing and distribution company selling to the EU and the US. – Yours, etc,
LEO MORAN,
Avenue Road,
Dundalk,
Co Louth.