An Bord Snip - Public Sector reform

[patslatt]

The "useless management" in this particular case came up with an entirely logical streamlining of benefit decisions, that was proven to be workable via a pilot scheme.

The CPSU then tried to hold the newly unemployed to ransom by not cooperating with the changes unless there were hundreds of lucrative promotions for their members. Effectively it boils down to extortion - either the taxpayer ponies up for a massive increase in salary costs and knock-on pension laibilities, or they run the risk of getting their dole very, very slowly if they're unfortunate enough to lose their jobs.

So who is to blame here? Why is pointing the finger at the CPSU's disgraceful trading on the misery of the newly employed somehow equate to letting the management off the hook?

Has this been exposed in any of the media?

[patslatt]

This is a great idea on paper, way better than decetralisation. But history tells us the only way pay gets negotiated is up.
Might be difficult to get staff in some counties, especially where a wealthy one and poor one are neighbours. Could torpedoe some hospitals too.

Instead of attempting to dilute PS workers power, it would be better if Gov (with a grown up opposition as partner) cemented it's power base to come up with a genuine plan for dealing with the PS expenditure problem.
It's not going away, and is WAAAY bigger than any political party.

Local government and hospitals should be able to negotiate pay in the context of local and regional labour costs but they have to be monitored carefully by central government to prevent manipulation by trade unions as UK experience has shown before Thatcherism.

[patslatt]

FG are afraid to tackle the PS too. Listening to Varadkar making recomendations to save economy on radio last week you could tell he didnt beleive the party lines he was spouting and that he would like he say what he really felt. The 3 things he said FG would do to save economy if costed would only account for a small fraction of the amount needed.

FG is harvesting PS votes. Haughey in opposition in the 1980s aggressively exploited FG's attempts to correct fiscal instability,a lesson not lost on FG.

[patslatt]

Unions can't have it both ways, they either represent or at least take cognisance of ALL of the workers in a society...... which is why most people wont cross pickets - a sense of shared responsibilities.... or (as they've behaved in partnership) they are a representative body for themselves and their members only, in which case they are just IBEC with a different name, pure capitalists filling their own pockets (which many in leadership are) and the "keep the red flag flying " and international brotherhood stuff is just nonsesnse (which I now suspect after years of being fooled!)

The PS unions have represented the Irish skilled and middle class. Every time there was an economic crisis,they retained their well paid, permanent pensionable jobs while the unfortunate unemployed got on the boat to England. "Gone t'England" as they used to say in the country. This was so even as the country was bled white in Dev's unnecessary 1930s economic war with the UK, in the failure of the statist,protectionist economy of the 1950s and in the bloated government spending crisis of the 1980s.

This time around it should be different because the size of the government bloat begs for austerity and,more important, the government must do what is necessary to hold on to its cash lifeline in the bond market,the elephant in the room. It can no longer print money to pay its bills.

[Proposition Joe]

Has this been exposed in any of the media?

Hannafin herself blew the whistle on the CPSU's antics, on radio and TV last week. The Week in Politics and Morning Ireland if memory serves.

[toughbutfair]

the government should tell all PS staff what their new wage level is. If they don't like, they can quit, if they strike -fire them with no dole. We can retrain the 350k people who have lost their jobs to do these jobs anyway, any we can't we can just import foreigners who will be glad of the job.


I'd let them rot if they don't accept what's told to them.

[DCon]

More leaks in the Business Post:

The government-appointed spending review group, An Bord Snip Nua, is recommending major pay cuts for hospital consultants, a move that would force the government to reopen protracted and controversial pay negotiations with doctors.

The recommendation is likely to be broadly rejected by the consultants, who have been in negotiation with the government on a new contract for more than four years. A final deal was only agreed between Harney and the hospital consultants in April.

However, An Bord Snip Nua believes that the level of pay to consultants needs to be reduced and recommends revisiting the deal. It remains unclear whether the government would be willing to reopen the negotiations so soon after reaching an agreement.

Under the new contract, hospital consultants got an average pay rise of €30,000, bringing the salary of a senior consultant specialist working full-time in a public hospital to between €220,000 and €250,000.