http://www.thurles.info/2008/10/22/lowry-to-gain-further-reassurances-after-budge-u-turn/ News and Information From The Heart of Tipperary Thu, 09 Sep 2010 23:46:02 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 http://www.thurles.info/2008/10/22/lowry-to-gain-further-reassurances-after-budge-u-turn/comment-page-1/#comment-46 Mags Fri, 24 Oct 2008 15:31:11 +0000 http://www.thurles.info/?p=271#comment-46 No one can bring about change if they remove themselves from the decision making arena! One reaction to recent government events which I have found particularly infuriating, has been the recent trend of ministers & local councillors jumping from the ‘sinking ship’ in a thinly veiled effort to boost their public profile given that an election may be on the cards sooner rather than later! We voters won’t fall too easily for that “auld media trick”! I applaud your recent actions and hope that you will continue to remain inside the inner circle and take a hard line stance in all efforts to clean up the post-budget waste & mess! According to the CSO’s National Employment survey, Public Sector Workers enjoy average earnings which are 49% higher than the private sector. Public sector pay increased by 67% between 1999 & 2006 while in the euro area growth was only 22%. Under benchmarking we the employer were promised that public sector staff would co-operate with team working & cross-functional working to supersede traditional work demarcation. This does not happen! Lunch time opening for all public offices was also to be put into effect. Everyone knew this would lead to increased staff levels, higher pay bills and the overall poor customer service we tolerate today. It should also be noted that while public servants enjoy higher salaries they also enjoy over 15 different grades of flexible working hours obtained under the so called Family Friendly Working Environment practice. If small businesses operated this practice we would be back to 1930 in this country. Perhaps the government should be looking here for savings and certainly there would be no public outcry. A Dáil question: “How many days were lost to stress & other sick leave by each public service department so far this year? Congratulations on your stand! No one can bring about change if they remove themselves from the decision making arena! One reaction to recent government events which I have found particularly infuriating, has been the recent trend of ministers & local councillors jumping from the ‘sinking ship’ in a thinly veiled effort to boost their public profile given that an election may be on the cards sooner rather than later! We voters won’t fall too easily for that “auld media trick”! I applaud your recent actions and hope that you will continue to remain inside the inner circle and take a hard line stance in all efforts to clean up the post-budget waste & mess!
According to the CSO’s National Employment survey, Public Sector Workers enjoy average earnings which are 49% higher than the private sector. Public sector pay increased by 67% between 1999 & 2006 while in the euro area growth was only 22%. Under benchmarking we the employer were promised that public sector staff would co-operate with team working & cross-functional working to supersede traditional work demarcation. This does not happen!
Lunch time opening for all public offices was also to be put into effect. Everyone knew this would lead to increased staff levels, higher pay bills and the overall poor customer service we tolerate today. It should also be noted that while public servants enjoy higher salaries they also enjoy over 15 different grades of flexible working hours obtained under the so called Family Friendly Working Environment practice. If small businesses operated this practice we would be back to 1930 in this country.
Perhaps the government should be looking here for savings and certainly there would be no public outcry.
A Dáil question: “How many days were lost to stress & other sick leave by each public service department so far this year?
Congratulations on your stand!

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