No redundancies, say FF and PDs

FIANNA Fail and the Progressive Democrats finally tried to bury the "25,000 jobs debate" in their joint statement last night. It insisted there would be no redundancies in the public sector under their administration and that 25,000 people would not lose their jobs. It remains to be seen whether they have succeeded.

Anyone who was in any doubt about the importance of policies towards the public sector in the election need only have watched the debate between Mary Harney and Dick Spring.

The Tanaiste tried to capitalise on the PD manifesto plan to reduce public service numbers by 25,000, while the Ms Harney repeatedly tried to get him to accept that, under PD policies, any redundancies would be voluntary.

Then came last night's statement, which was a clear sign that Fianna Fail believes that controversy on the issue was damaging its prospects of gaining the key public-sector vote.

Public servants will closely examine the issue and many will also have closely examined all the parties' promises on State companies, of which Fine Gael and the PDs are the only two to call clearly for privatisation.

The PDs were correct to identify the control of the public-sector pay bill as the key issue in terms of controlling overall government spending, but their decision to put a figure of 25,000 for job reductions in the public sector in their manifesto was bound to cause controversy.

Since then the party had tried to defend the figure, with Mr Des O'Malley last night saying an average reduction of 3 per cent in the 125,000 public servants not in front-line jobs would reduce numbers by 25,000 in seven years. However, by last night - just a few hours after Mr O'Malley's statement - the 25,000 figure had been consigned to the dustbin.

Fianna Fail sources said it got a bad reaction to PD policy on the issue and it also led to strong trade union reaction, with SIPTU leading the charge and warning its public-sector members about it.

In contrast to the fuss on public-sector jobs, there has been much less debate on public ownership of State companies. The only two parties to call directly for the sale of some companies are the PDs and Fine Gael. The PDs favour selling off ACC, ICC and the TSB, as well as the VHI and Cablelink.

Fianna Fail takes a much more cautious approach, saying it would encourage the development of the State-sector companies. It says it will consider selling off shares to pension funds and completing strategic alliances. On the specific issue of the TSB, party sources say it favours a quick decision on the bank's future, but would need to examine the picture before deciding whether this should involve a sell-off.

Of the Rainbow parties, Fine Gael is, not surprisingly, the most bullish on privatisation, calling for the sale of Coillte, the TSB, Great Southern Hotels and IFI.

Labour however says it believes there should be further study on the future of TSB and that the State should retain a significant stage in the overall banking sector.

So if the Rainbow is returned, there is no sign that the three parties could reach an early resolution on TSB's future or on the sell-off of other State companies.