A strong, angry letter from the Garda Representative Association in today’s Irish Examiner.
Credibility crisis for politicians
THE Government and our politicians lack the credibility required to lead the country. We’re told the country is in deep financial trouble, yet they continue to draw ridiculously inflated salaries, totally out of proportion to our size as an economy.
If, as the Taoiseach says, we all need to “put our shoulders to the wheel in order to save the economy”, why is it that public sector workers feel Mr Cowen’s weight, in addition to that of all the the other TDs and senators, on top of that wheel.
Where are the swingeing cuts to their salaries and expenses which would lend some credibility to their pronouncements? The public sector, on top of the pension levy, are to be hit with a 25% cut in travel and subsistence expenses while, at the same time, TDs are to receive a 10% cut to their expenses.
Is there something wrong with that? The public sector represents about one- sixth (or 17%) of the population currently in employment. What about the other 83%?
If gardaí, nurses, firemen, teachers, etc, receive a 7% or 8% cut in their wages they may no longer be able to pay their bills and feed their families, yet if the politicians, department mandarins and other fat-cats took a 50% cut across the board, they would still have a lifestyle the rest of us can only dream about.
The financial regulator, on retiring, walked away with more than e600,000 as a thank you.
Thanks for what? Have you seen the state of the banks? On that subject, our pension fund was used to recapitalise the banks.
If the banks needed money, how can the Bank of Ireland pay its workers a 3.5% pay increase which is being denied to both the public and private sectors at large. An all-party committee set up by the Dáil to look at ways of reducing the expenses of TDs and senators has, to date, cost the taxpayer an extra e400,000.
This whole thing is a sick joke on the ordinary people of this country.
When the Taoiseach starts to address that we can make progress and maybe save this country if its not already too late. Leadership. Not self-preservation.
Michael Corcoran
Centra Executive Committee
Garda Representative Association
Anglesea Street
Cork