Can public sector workers be let go?

[hiberniate]

I think thats a very misleading generalisation. There are areas in the public sector where people are snowed under 24/7 and other areas where there are busy periods and slack periods, much like in the private sector. Places like Social Welfare local offices, Revenue public offices etc. are always busy. There are many different types of jobs in the public sector so you can't make a sweeping statement like that.

Even in jobs where work is not always on top of you, the work that does arrive in, needs to be done, so you need people to do it. If you get rid of these people, who does the work when it is there? Productivity in these areas is hard to measure, and it should not be measured in the same way as you measure productivity in say, a factory because the purpose of the job is completely different.

it's not a generalisation... it's people i know, therefore, by definition it cannot be a generalisation. if i said, the people i know are representative of all or a large number of others, then it would be a generalisation.

Also, your own post is fairly sweeping in its generality.

Fact remains that we have a flabby public service, which every government has been afraid to tackle due to the fear of electoral reprisal. If anything good comes from this, it will be a good cull... this applies to both management and staff

[Watcher1]

Apparently there are very few grounds for sacking, however, criminal acts is apparently one. My brother, a school teacher, told me that years ago, however, I read this week in the paper that driving offences are criminal acts apparently (thought that wwas a bit harsh). Anyway, that same brother had his license taken away from him not too long ago for drink driving, so I dont know about those grounds for sacking anymore.

[dub14]

I would imagine engaging in or facilitating fraud is a sackable offence, e.g. Social welfare. If it's not then it should be.