A Christmas Present for Senior Civil Servants

[He3]

It wont be reported on RTE. ....

They have to cover it. They covered the original claim live on all their platforms on budget day and discussed it in their panel discussions on the day. See below for what was said then by the Minister. For them to ignore the ditching of one of the key equalising measures in the budget would be nakedly partisan.

ADJUSTMENTS TO PUBLIC SERVICE PAY AND PENSIONS
In my Supplementary Budget, I announced my decision to have top level pay rates examined by the Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector and benchmarked against those of other EU countries of comparable scale.

The Government has considered the recommendations of the Review Body and intends to apply reductions to all public servants in the higher pay bands including hospital consultants.

Based on the Review Body’s recommendations I propose to apply a reduction in pay of :

8 per cent for those with salaries from €125,000 to €165,000;
12 per cent for those earning between €165,000 to €200,000; and
15 per cent for those earning €200,000 or more.
These are permanent reductions which will be reflected in future pension entitlements.

The salary of the Taoiseach will be reduced by 20 per cent. This reduction, together with the pension levy means the Taoiseach’s salary will be cut by close to 30 per cent in total.

Ministers and Secretaries General of Government Departments will take a pay cut of 15 per cent: an overall cut of close to 25 per cent when the pension levy is taken into account.

Financial Statement (Minister's Speech)

[seenitallb4]

Didn't the Dail already vote on this? How can it be changed?

[seenitallb4]

In his book The Bankers, Shane Ross writes near the end that essentially the bankers and civil service are immune from any real consequences. Looks like he was right.

[hammer]

"First, these performance-related awards were, as their name suggests, not guaranteed but (at least in theory) related to performance. This move appears to be an effective admission from the government that these payments were [COLOR="Red"]not in fact performance-related [/COLOR]bonuses but part of the core pay of these civil servants"

This country is a shambles. To hide the true salary of civil servants they give them a bonus every year - and of course bonuses are "applied" for by the civil servant him/herself. And everybody that "applies" for the bonus got it..................

BaNAMA republic.

We cant afford bonuses or your wages but because we cant afford to give you your bonus we`ll only reduce your gross pay slightly

[Sailor]

On Drivetime now - RTE finally woke up. Makes you wonder if their failure to cover Lenihan's illness was also because they were asleep. So much for the howls of outrage against TV3 that they have been regularly broadcasting

[myksav]

On Drivetime now - RTE finally woke up. Makes you wonder if their failure to cover Lenihan's illness was also because they were asleep. So much for the howls of outrage against TV3 that they have been regularly broadcasting

Just heard it and thought "that's been on the forum since it happened. Slow, rte, slow."

[Sailor]

Just heard it and thought "that's been on the forum since it happened. Slow, rte, slow."

And neither was the interviewer all that shy about trying to press Bruton on Lenihan's future

[He3]

Just heard it and thought "that's been on the forum since it happened. Slow, rte, slow."

Better late than never. This decision is about as divisive as can be at a time when what the country needs most is unity.

[DCon]

Having sat on it for three months, the Government slipped out the latest report by the Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector in the wake of the Budget. Its approach was to compare Irish salaries with those in Germany, UK, Austria, Netherlands, Belgium and Finland.

A great stunt by Lenihan. He announced in the budget that the review would be with "similar sized countries". The actual review included Germany and the UK.

[droghedasouth]

Like all decisions made by FF, this was not made on political grounds.
No, the decision is as ever based on the best advice available.
Such a pity that the best adviced is not disinterested.