Well said. Keep up the great work.

Respect is due in truck loads!!

So where will this magic pot of money come from? Any suggestions?

The magic pot was there for the banks, is that no longer magic

@Regonald Timpson

Simply put, ‘no money, no frontline service’.

You will receive the same response no matter how many times you propose this shambolic argument.

I didn’t advocate no frontline services. To spell it out: all government workers need to be on the same type of wages and retirement plans as the productive sectors.

@Regonald Timpson.

Are you having a laugh?
Let me ‘spell it out’ for you. You may not use the public sector as some kind of fiscal easing mechanism. The public sector frontline is the lifeblood of a functioning society. Without it you cannot expect the services you require to maintain some semblance of first world existence.
The ‘public sector’ are people. They are not an ‘extravagance’ that the private sector, or Government can elect to ‘dumb down’ in order to avoid higher taxes.
Very convenient to adopt the high moral ground when it suits you.
The Public Sector have taken enough austerity. They won’t take any more.

Define a “productive sector”?

Thank you Eoin.

Was seething so much I neglected that question…

Government workers are entitled to annual wage increases, and, (in Teachers cases) about three months of vacation each year. That’s in addition to paid sick days, emergency leave days, and paid personal days.

Not to mention every holiday is paid and off. You are supposedly paid over time if you work on the weekend (whatever happened to time and a half?)

You know, I don’t blame the unions for these sweetheart deals.
I blame those that sign the contracts. Union members are there to get the best deal possible. Politicians seem to not be able to say no.

It reminds me of the screaming 5 year old in the candy aisle. Do I blame the child for asking for chocolate? or shall I blame the parent for purchasing?

Teachers unions agreed to have payment for 9 months paid over 12 months for their members in the past. All teachers do not get paid holidays.

You didn’t answer my question about what your definition of “productive” is?

From your other comments I’d imagine it is something that garners a material profit for those involved?

Are you suggesting public sector workers partake in “unproductive” labour?

“Government workers are entitled to annual wage increases, and, (in Teachers cases) about three months of vacation each year. That’s in addition to paid sick days, emergency leave days, and paid personal days.

Not to mention every holiday is paid and off. You are supposedly paid over time if you work on the weekend (whatever happened to time and a half?)

You know, I don’t blame the unions for these sweetheart deals.”

I know, right? It’s almost like they’re being treated like…employees or something, with their demands for basic work rights.

Complete bullshit regonald.
3 months holidays – actually 23days
Paid personal days – never heard of it
Off every holiday – worked every Xmas for past 7 years
Paid sick days – if I even take 1 sick my line manager is on the phone to me.

You should get this idiotic notion of the public sector out of your head…

Cut social welfare for the following:
The long term unemployed who don’t want to work they give long term unemployed who want to work but cant get a job a bad name
People serving prison sentences
People who don’t pay their court fines
Children’s allowance on houses earning over €100k
Foreign nationals who came here just to claim social and have never worked
Dock parents social welfare who’s children are trouble makers and constantly before the courts
Privatise the health system and make med insurance compulsory take it out of their welfare if they don’t sign up themselves
And this whole thing of the public sector v the private sector is stupid and exactly what the government wants all workers who pay taxes regardless of what sector should stand up and say my money is been wasted by government on the wasters of our society and we should stand together to say it.

Apologies my comment did not refer to the medical professionals, they do a to class job with very limited resources.

Yes BUT we are also spending money we don’t have. Do you realize that we have a budget deficit?

Nobody is doubting there is a deficit, stop going after the same section of the workforce every single time is the point.

@Regonald Timpson.

No money, no service.

It’s not black and white.

Having my income taken from me as taxes, used in order to lobby the government for increases my taxes in order to pay for wages, allowances and retirement plans, is not fair. And to hear some government “workers” shriek in horror as they cruise into retirement on retirement plans is just as bad if not worse. To draw pay/benefits annually for some government workers.

The government could be brought back down in line with the private sector. Once we see no disparity in pay and benefits. Presently, you don’t see many quitting government jobs. You see people scrambling to get government jobs (in many cases).

The third world conditions in our hospitals should have been addressed during the the “celtic tiger” ere. Where were the protests then? I support the protestors, because it’s time for us all to take a stand against the political hierarchy – but I don’t just want to see even more money disappear into wages. The whole mess has to be reformed, and it’s long past time the citizen’s interests were put first.

@ BETTY

The public sector pay levels are financially in deficit. Where do you think the money will come from? The majority of the public support cuts to public sector spending. Otherwise, it’s higher taxes.

@Regonald Timpson

Simply put, ‘no money, no frontline services’.

…your move…

What the economy needs in order to grow is less regulation and lower taxes. Trying to justify big government because of the “frontline” makes no economic sense at all.

Strange regonald that the majority of people on this thread are supporting frontline staff. In fact, you seem to be in a complete minority of public service bashers here.

no, the majority on here are appear to be Union members and their extended family. All with the same common theme: ‘done cut me, don’t cut thee, that the one behind the tree’.

Noc is the ambulance service not a part of the 24/7 alliance? Lately all the press the NAS has been getting is negative press.

The PNA represent some paramedics in the ambulance service. Unfortunately the national ambulance service have basically non-existent PR, so any publicity is usually bad.

The majority of the public support reforms to public sector spending. Otherwise, it’s higher taxes.

Off course they support them who wants to spend more more on taxes. Until there house is burgled in the middle of the night and they have to wait 25mins for the Garda to come. Or they ring an ambulance coz a loved one is sick and there is none available. Yeah we’ll keep cutting the lads and lassies wages until its there the ones out robbing there neighbours house to put food on there family’s table coz there wages have been cut to nothing and then taxed the sh1t out off.
No one wants to pay taxes. But some one has to keep the show on the road. And the fire service ambulance services guards and nurses can’t work for nothing.

Now it’s a real pity they don’t have a dedicated union/representative body like every one else does. The ambulance service is being forgotten about.

If you don’t like your employer’s policies or your job, then quit and go to work somewhere else. It is interesting to see a politician try to argue his best to explain the dire financial situation facing the country. Government-run industry is at an advantage vis-a-vis private enterprise because they often don’t need to turn a profit. Oddly, though, private industry still works better than government.

We have to end government backed pensions. People that work for the government should have to save for retirement like the rest of us. The unfunded pension liability is enormous.

@Regonald Timpson.

See first reply above.

I will agree that the public sector could be run better to save money. But the governments way of saving money is cutting wages. They would save a lot more if they weren’t paying 6 deferent departments to do the same job. RSA department of transport. Tv licence house hold charge bin charge.

Unfounded?
I pay for my public service pension
Stop trolling

Unfunded
I pay for my public service pension
Stop trolling

Unfunded
I pay for my public service pension
Stop trolling

Unfunded

I pay for my public service pension
Stop trolling

Unfunded

I pay for my public service pension
Stop trolling

Johnny is your comment directed at me?

Try a week in the private sector Simon! these people need to wise up, they are guaranteed their wages every week, lucky them! and the majority of them incompetent mediocrities!

Idiotic ignorant comment…….

Bit unfair.
Although there is a lot of wasters in the public sector,but the frontline staff go beyond their job description.they are out there everyday protecting the citizens off this island.
Fair play to them for standing up for themselves.

Good man “lucky to have a job, i would do it for half the money” that rant is used up now. If we are going to go that route how many banks were run by the public sector how many financial institutions were run by public sector before they came crashing around all of our ears. Mistakes in the past are crippling our now and our childrens tomorrow. The public sector pay scale is a yard stick used by private sector break that and hotel/factory workers will be on 2euro an hour very soon. People have to wise up and unite, the Private V’s Public sector is orchestrated by the wealthy private sector big wigs and government, keep them divided and at each other and we can do as we please. DIvide and conquer

That is a particulary stupid statement. I like most of my collegues have worked in the private sector before we joined the job. I worked in the private sector for 15 years. You had the same chance to join the public sector as anyone else but you chose not to so stop crying about us wanting to defend ourselves.

Guaranteed a wage that’s reducing year in year out!! Next time you need to be cut from a crashed car, pulled from a burning building, just remember the crap you are coming out with an be sure to mention it to the fireman cutting you free or saving your life! Mention it BEFORE he saves your life come to mention it!

@Paul At Saveelectrical Its precisely this sort of abuse, and much worse, that the average frontline PS has to take every day. We are not guaranteed to be paid our correct wages every week.
You clearly own and run a business, if you went to your staff and told them you were demanding an extra hour per day of unpaid work from each of them, they are no longer to be paid for overtime and due to the current situation one person now has to do the work of two or three, regardless of how safe it is. In addition they may be assaulted in the course of their job on a daily basis, face injury and contract various serious diseases from those they come in contact with in the course of their daily work. If they do become ill you will persecute them, regardless of how they acquired their illness, in fact you probably don’t care. Try that with your employees and see how long they last.

Paul if the public sector are paid peanuts it has a knock on effect on the private sector as there’s no money to spend anywhere. So these drastic wage cuts will affect both the private and public sector

Well said Martin

Spoiled brats, I’d say. With a bit of luck they’ll bring down the government though.

Aside from the unsustainable cost to the taxpayer, what “pay cuts” were imposed to government workers? 14%?(compared to 60% in Greece and 30% in Latvia).

Government works best when it is limited and small.

@Regonald Timpson.

You are possibly the most uninformed, selfish, self interested contributer to this thread.
Life stopped being fair on a cold night in 2008. Time you started dealing with it. Public Service recognised this some time ago.
Maybe the future is just not that comfortable. Maybe you just have to get on with that fact.

And maybe, just a semblance of humility?

I am a critical care nurse. My wages are down 30% , not 14%.
Are you seriously suggesting that it would be ok to expect me to take a 60% pay cut as mentioned like Greece?
While you were with your kids ( if you have any) on Christmas morning. I Didn’t see My little ones for 3 days over Xmas eve, Xmas day & St Stephens day as they were in bed when I left at 06.40 and in bed when I hot home @ 9.45pm.
Yes , this is the career I chose, but if you had any idea of the tragic , sad cases that I work with,and the responsibility of taking care of critically I’ll patients , I think you would agree that even mentioning a 60% pay cut is ridiculous .

Just to add even if we could claim more than basic pay we could be at some sustainable level but the Defence Forces are the only uniformed service not entitled to claim overtime.

Join the teachers…same situation !

I dont think it is Michael… Teachers can strike, I may be wrong??

The army will be the ones expected to fill the gaps when this farce blows up in the governments face and those who can strike or blue flu do, with feck all thanks as usual the worst paid public servants are in the defence forces thousands on FIS and cuts keep coming joke.

The teachers are relatively well looked after due to their powerful union. The day the union starts acting on behalf of all the “second class” temporary/non-permanent teachers will the day they get any respect from me.

It’s a disgrace the judicial system is not behind our Garda force,

The Gardai et al all know the risks before joining so don’t go harping on about it now!

When they joined they were appreciated and paid for the job they trained and studied for ,, , now they would be better off and safer had they stayed in their “public sector” jobs…

*private sector !!*

they b from the f.g/lab camp.

100 % behind the frontline services.

Gardai is their propper name Chris ..have respect .

Hide and Seek thought it was obvious Chris meant Copperface Jack’s.

I assume that was a gardai/coppers pun.

No it was just coppers night club that anyone who was half clued in would have understood!!

He meant the night club!!!!

I beg your pardon so ..most sincerely apologise Chris..

so sorry all …

I don’t know who you are or where you’re from, but your comment reveals a distinct lack of familiarity with the economic situation here. Have you seen our budget deficit?

@Regonald Timpson.

Slow learner.

Why do we have a budget deficit ?

Having recently had experience of both the public and private health sectors….I hope that the nurse in the public sector was earning more for working longer hours in smaller teams and getting a lot more abuse from the usual citizens who expect all on a plate !

I have a close relative who has always went to our local hospital, this hospital has been given a somewhat unwarranted bashing (I feel) in the media over the years. When she was diagnosed with cancer recently she opted to be treated in a lah-di-dah private hospital, never again she said.
Having seen what its like in this other hospital, and she has been a patient in several others once or twice, she told me she now knows the care she gets from Public Servants is second to none and feels they get a very raw deal from the media and the government. I won’t go into details, but she maintains she received better care on a public ward in our local hospital than in a private ward in a lah-di-dah hospital.

Oops, should be: https://www.facebook.com/StoptheNorthKildareAmbulanceCuts

Martin, I think you mean paramedics. We have t been “ambulance drivers”for years…. ;-)

Ah here, the ambulance hardly drives itself like ;) Actually, while you’re here, our local paramedics find it difficult to support the campaign publicly out of fear, if you know any of the Maynooth base people send them our best wishes and solidarity :)

No bother Martin il let them know… il let the “fire engine drivers and “Garda car drivers” know as well lol :-)

Pay zero attention to the “red’s”. You will find that most of them wouldn’t shake to keep themselves warm and wouldn’t know a days work if it bit them on the arse.
The rest of them are “NIMBY’s” that think they are above the rest of us.

Mike your right Im above that :)