MINISTER FOR Education Ruairí Quinn has admitted to feeling “hurt” by those he said were trying to undermine the public service and urged State employees to ignore “begrudgers”.
At the launch of the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA)’s yearbook and diary in Dublin yesterday, Mr Quinn robustly defended the work of public servants and complained that some media commentary was attempting to discredit them.
“It hurts, it actually hurts. I can say it to a group like here. Publicly I can’t admit to being hurt because big boys don’t cry,” the Minister said.
He said very few countries could take for granted the non-corrupt impartiality of public servants. “The legacy of excellence that we have in our public administration is not one that features on the horizon any more because it’s not fashionable, because we’re all over-paid with gold-plated pensions etc,” he said.
“But I value it, I value it enormously, and this State would not function in the manner which it does if it wasn’t for the standards which you have embedded and crystallised and communicated to successive generations.
“Can I congratulate each and every one of you for the work that you’re doing and only encourage you and ask you to keep going. I can’t use the F-word, but you know what you do with begrudgers.”
Mr Quinn singled out the Sunday Independentfor particular criticism, claiming the newspaper was carrying out a "relentless attack" on public servants.
“The undermining of the public service for whatever motivation . . . if you undermine democracy, if you undermine cohesion, if you undermine solidarity, if you rubbish the motivation of people and if you characterise them as being overpaid . . .”
Postmen, primary school teachers and emergency ward nurses were not overpaid, Mr Quinn said.
“And yet to read or to listen to, you’d find that all of us, including people like myself, are in it for the money and that we’re inherently corrupt.”
He said the State was born in a period of extraordinary turbulence “and we’re going through a certain amount of turbulence as we speak”.
Mr Quinn complimented IPA director general Brian Cawley on the publication of the 46th edition of the yearbook and diary.
He said he found the directory “invaluable” and had every edition since 1970 or 1971. It contains the title, contact details and names of key personnel of each listed organisation.
