Madam, – In 2006 I was made redundant. I invested my redundancy payment cautiously for pension purposes and set up my own business.
That investment has lost more than 90 per cent since then. The pay rate for my services is down 35 per cent. There’s no sick pay, no holiday pay, no particular job security. The Government has just decided to withhold the State contributory pension for two years – that’s another €50,000 off our family’s post-65 situation.
But I’m one of the lucky ones – I still have paid work which I quite enjoy. Three near neighbours (that I know of) lost their jobs recently. I have friends whose businesses have declined to the extent that they barely cover their costs, never mind making some profit to live on.
These are hard times for everyone and I can understand the frustration of public servants – like most of us, it’s not their fault yet they still suffer. But their union leaders are wrong – they are not the only ones who have to pay. I doubt there is anyone who is unaffected to a greater or lesser extent.
Tough as things have been in the public service, those who work there are in the “lesser extent” category. For them to blithely carry on unaffected by this serious collapse in our collective economic fortunes with no impact on their income, their pension, their sick pay, their holiday pay and their oh-so-precious job security would be unthinkable.
They should forget about their industrial inaction, thank their lucky stars that they’re in by the fire while the storm outside is raging, and concentrate on doing what they can to get the country back on its feet – we need them to do that, not to disrupt an already battered economy which is the source of whatever income is available to pay them anything. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The statement by Senator Jim Walsh concerning the Passport Office (Seanad Report, March 25th), demonstrates not just anti-public-sector bigotry but gross ignorance of the facts. The staff employed in the Passport Office are among the lowest paid in the State. – Yours, etc,