Sir, – Seán Flynn and Martin Wall’s report “Entrants to teaching get salary rise but lose key benefit” (Home News, September 1st) highlighted for me the way this Government operates. It is too scared to take on the sacred cows of the public-sector unions, and this is having a disproportionate effect on Ireland’s younger people. While the Croke Park deal secured pay levels for existing members of the public service, the Government has been able to cut the pay and benefits for new entrants. This policy with regard to new teachers is more of the same.
The economic crisis can be fairly well defined from the perspective of age. Those union members protected by Croke Park consist by and large of older workers and those who should be more financially secure with properties or a mortgage considerably downpaid. On the whole, the wealth in Irish society lies with its older citizens. Younger people have poor wages and poor prospects because of vested interests which have yet to be tackled. We have a Government whose average age hardly reflects the average age of the country. What chance has a young person to get on the property ladder with deflated wages and poor career prospects? Why can our Government so stubbornly stand by and see younger mortgage holders – and they are predominantly younger – in negative equity and do nothing about it? We can also expect lower standards of living in our retirement than people in retirement today (a scary thought) and a longer working life.
We brought the economic crisis on ourselves by using tomorrow to pay for today. We are still doing it at the expense of our young. It is disgusting and wrong. – Yours, etc,