Public Sector Salary Cap should be 150k

[LeftOfCentre]

I watched Vincent Browne's News program this evening (Jan 08) Vincent asked Dr Bill Tormey how much he got paid, Vincent was quite persistent and Unbelievably Dr Bill did not actually know !

''He answered eh , , , , , It's either 160,000 or' or' 230,000 plus private practice, I'm not quite sure at the moment.''

Brown almost gasped that he was not able to answer more accurately. But as with all highly paid media people, held back and didn't challenge him on this.

The debate over how much they get paid is one thing.
But for an individual being paid his salary from OUR TAX'es, not to be sure if he is paid 160k or 230k (a 70k range!). Surely this is the place we need to start looking for savings on government expenditure.

Consultants generally work less than 30 hours per week, they refuse to work at Weekends, They have very hefty pensions & have the ability to earn huge sums in private practice. Often their private appointments are booked by a secretary paid by the state and facilitated in state hospitals.

I don't agree with anyone getting paid more than they're worth, but I really think that politicians salary (expenses or otherwise) pale into insignificance compared to our overpaid consultants.

If we really want to begin balancing the books in the public finances, Brian Cowen should act unilaterally and without consultation to reduce and cap all public sector positions to a maximum of 150k PA. This should include EVERY state and state body employee from FAS 'execs' to the President(300k pa).

The biggest objections to this will be

''We will lose these people to the private sector!''
My answer - Fantastic ! Good luck in your career in the private sector.

The only exceptions that should be allowed to this are employees whom have skills specific to them alone & these employees must have contracts for 3 years maximum.

As the Government scramble around to reduce costs this measure is a perfect way to begin, lets reduce the real salary wastage before we start asking those on 40k a year to stop going on holidays once a year.

[jpc]

Good proposal.
Start at the top and work down.

[PhoenixIreland]

Who the hell really NEEDS more than 100 000 a year? Were spending a fortune on these guys so their birds can buy prada bags, no, f that.

Pay cap is a great idea.
Nobody, no matter what their job, is worth more than 100 000 a year, thats more than enough for a very comfortable lifestyle, if you want more than that, I'm sorry, your a greedy wan k er who does not deserve a job to begin with.

[Bobert]

Who the hell really NEEDS more than 100 000 a year? Were spending a fortune on these guys so their birds can buy prada bags, no, f that.

Pay cap is a great idea.
Nobody, no matter what their job, is worth more than 100 000 a year, thats more than enough for a very comfortable lifestyle, if you want more than that, I'm sorry, your a greedy wan k er who does not deserve a job to begin with.

Enough of your left wing ramblings, Commie.

What we need is to cap the wages of the civil service who do nothing but drain this country to provide their wives with Gucci sun glasses.

[LeftOfCentre]

150 k Is fine,,,,, You must have an incentive to study for 10 years! ! !

[libertarian-right]

this is madness.

Public sector cuts should be introduced like a sliding scale.

For example:

Under 30,000 1% cut
30,001 - 40,000 2% cut
40,001 - 50,000 4% cut
50,001 - 60,000 6% cut
60,001 - 70,000 8% cut
70,001 - 80,000 10% cut
80,001 - 100,000 15% cut
100,001 - 120,000 25% cut
120,001 + 35% cut

[MartinP]

No one needs 100,000 per year. That includes those in both sectors. Anyone receiving (note I don't say earning, no one's worth this much a year) grossly in excess of this should, quite simply, have it confiscated by the state and pumped into worthwhile projects in health, education, etc.

Heads of the banks get ridiculous amounts, to the tune of millions per year when bonuses are taken into account. Plenty others in different sectors would have been awarded similar amounts in recent years.

[True Republican]

Public sector cuts should be introduced like a sliding scale.

For example:

Under 30,000 1% cut
30,001 - 40,000 2% cut
40,001 - 50,000 4% cut
50,001 - 60,000 6% cut
60,001 - 70,000 8% cut
70,001 - 80,000 10% cut
80,001 - 100,000 15% cut
100,001 - 120,000 25% cut
120,001 + 35% cut[/QUOTE]


I'd go further.

under 35,000 3%
35,001-45,000 5%
45,001-55,000 7%
55,001-70,000 10%
70,001-100,000 15%
100,001-125,000 20%
125,001-150,000 25%
150,001-200,000 35%
200,001+ 45%

Also I'd support the introduction of a 5% income levy for anyone who earns less than 100,000 in the public sector while imposing an 8% levy on workers that earn more than 100,000 in the public sector. The public sector also needs to be cut by 20%. All private sector workers would receive a 2% cut in both the top rate and bottom rate of income tax and the 1%,2% and 3% levies would no longer apply to private sector workers. I couldn't give a dam about the public sector.

[libertarian-right]

I couldn't give a dam about the public sector.

We need the public sector, this includes Garda, teachers, doctors, nurses, loads of vital people giving vital services. You will need to give a damn. Agreed there is waste, agreed there is many areas that need to be rehauled, scrapped & done away with but we cannot forget the fundamentals. A performance indictor board can be setup to sweep through all areas and implement improvements. I agree that private sector should be addressed also

[drbob1972]

Who the hell really NEEDS more than 100 000 a year? Were spending a fortune on these guys so their birds can buy prada bags, no, f that.

100K per annum is 8.3K per month before tax, last year that came in at about 5.8 - 6.2K per month after taxes (don't know exactly what it will be this year)

less a morgage of say 2k (not excessive these days) and pensions, small loans, etc that leaves approx 3k, now feeding a family of 4, heating, lighting, running two reasonable cars, etc, etc does not leave a hugh amount of that 3k left.

true theres no really suffering / hardship on 100K p.a. salary but its far from the prada bags, luxory lifestyle, etc that you seem to think anyone on 100K is living....