Public sector pay freeze inevitable

[patslatt]

The Irish cabinet,the highest paid one in world democracy,is likely to give up its ridiculous pay grab instead of postponing it in order to gain credibility in pay talks with the public sector's unions and professional associations and to show leadership. Under honest Brian Cowen,there is an excellent chance of this. A pay freeze for the public sector looks inevitable given that it had been making out like bandits under Benchmarking with little or no productivity gains to show for it.

The alternative is economic disaster: tax increases imposed on an imploding economy to pay for continuing public sector pay increases would lead to prolonged recession and mass unemployment of up to 12%. The finance minister's vague talk of taxes on high incomes would be the thin edge of the wedge,given that taxes on the small minority of high income people at the top of the pay pyramid don't yield much revenue.

Politically,increasing taxes would be a strategic disaster for Fianna Fail. In contemporary democracies,the loyalty to traditional political parties can't be taken for granted and complete routs at the polls can happen when voters feel aggrieved.

[Harpo]

Spoken like a true sheep of the right wing media. While I would fire most of the bureaucrats in the public sector and dismantle all the different bodies set up to create a soft position for a politician's cronies, the rank and file in the public sector deserve inflationary pay increases. Stop this madness of tax free horse racing and let greedy filth Dermot Desmond and Magnier start paying something towards their keep. That would be a welcome start.

[Sligoboy]

The Irish cabinet,the highest paid one in world democracy,is likely to give up its ridiculous pay grab instead of postponing it in order to gain credibility in pay talks with the public sector's unions and professional associations and to show leadership. Under honest Brian Cowen,there is an excellent chance of this. A pay freeze for the public sector looks inevitable given that it had been making out like bandits under Benchmarking with little or no productivity gains to show for it.

The alternative is economic disaster: tax increases imposed on an imploding economy to pay for continuing public sector pay increases would lead to prolonged recession and mass unemployment of up to 12%. The finance minister's vague talk of taxes on high incomes would be the thin edge of the wedge,given that taxes on the small minority of high income people at the top of the pay pyramid don't yield much revenue.

Politically,increasing taxes would be a strategic disaster for Fianna Fail. In contemporary democracies,the loyalty to traditional political parties can't be taken for granted and complete routs at the polls can happen when voters feel aggrieved.

Until you display that you actually have an intimate understanding of what you are talking about nobody with the exception of bleating neo-lib hawks will pass a blind bit of heed to anything you have to say on the matter.

But for the record and contrary to your incessant kite flying, a public sector pay freeze is not inevitable

[SPN]

the rank and file in the public sector deserve inflationary pay increases.

The last thing we need is inflationary pay rises!

We are in a deflationary period - look at the price of gold recently, look at the reductions in availability of lending - so we need to start putting pressure on retailers and service providers to start reducing their margins.

Giving willy nilly payrises just continues the careless splurge that has led to the issues in relation to supermarket pricing.


You might also note that it is ordinary workers who will have to divvy up the couple of billion needed to feed the pay rises for the public sector, and that is not going to fly in the current environment.

[Harpo]

the rank and file in the public sector deserve inflationary pay increases.

The last thing we need is inflationary pay rises!

We are in a deflationary period - look at the price of gold recently, look at the reductions in availability of lending - so we need to start putting pressure on retailers and service providers to start reducing their margins.

Giving willy nilly payrises just continues the careless splurge that has led to the issues in relation to supermarket pricing.


You might also note that it is ordinary workers who will have to divvy up the couple of billion needed to feed the pay rises for the public sector, and that is not going to fly in the current environment.

A deflationary period! I actually don't go out and buy gold but have you seen the prices increases in ESB, in fuel, in food etc etc Deflationary my arse

[SPN]

A deflationary period! I actually don't go out and buy gold but have you seen the prices increases in ESB, in fuel, in food etc etc Deflationary my arse

You can use less ESB, you can use less fuel, and we know that Supermarkets and Service Providers charge more in Ireland than they do elsewhere because Paddy has too much money sloshing around in his pockets and has no sense of "value".

The solution is to get people to become more thrifty, not to burden the public with extra taxes to allow the Sir Humphries to maintain their extravagant lifestyles.

[Harpo]

A deflationary period! I actually don't go out and buy gold but have you seen the prices increases in ESB, in fuel, in food etc etc Deflationary my arse

You can use less ESB, you can use less fuel, and we know that Supermarkets and Service Providers charge more in Ireland than they do elsewhere because Paddy has too much money sloshing around in his pockets and has no sense of "value".

The solution is to get people to become more thrifty, not to burden the public with extra taxes to allow the Sir Humphries to maintain their extravagant lifestyles.

This is more than a simple supply and demand issue, you can't expect the poor to go cold or only eat meat twice a week in the hope that prices will eventually come down.

[Sligoboy]

You can use less ESB, you can use less fuel, and we know that Supermarkets and Service Providers charge more in Ireland than they do elsewhere because Paddy has too much money sloshing around in his pockets and has no sense of "value".

I'm sorry, Ireland has always been an expensive place. If there was any sort of real competition, paddy would surely not only benefit from it but exploit it. Your painting a picture of a nation lighting cigarettes with €50 notes for the past 10 years is as offence as it is ridiculous.

The solution is to get people to become more thrifty, not to burden the public with extra taxes to allow the Sir Humphries to maintain their extravagant lifestyles

Nobodies asking for that. The rank and file of the Public sector are living on meagre salaries and work hard and deliver value for money as stated in the last OECD report.

[SPN]

This is more than a simple supply and demand issue, you can't expect the poor to go cold or only eat meat twice a week in the hope that prices will eventually come down.

That is MY point!

Do we want to raise taxes on poor people to pay wage increases for the public service?

Food poverty and fuel poverty are already major problems for people on low or fixed incomes. If we are going to spend taxpayers' money I would rather it went on worthy projects like addressing fuel and food poverty and not on enabling the public sector to continue having two holidays a year.

[Sligoboy]

This is more than a simple supply and demand issue, you can't expect the poor to go cold or only eat meat twice a week in the hope that prices will eventually come down.

That is MY point!

Do we want to raise taxes on poor people to pay wage increases for the public service?

Food poverty and fuel poverty are already major problems for people on low or fixed incomes. If we are going to spend taxpayers' money I would rather it went on worthy projects like addressing fuel and food poverty and not on enabling the public sector to continue having two holidays a year.

Who mentioned anything about raising taxes on poor people?