THE CROKE Park agreement on public sector pay and reform should be reviewed due to the “unforeseen budgetary deterioration”, according to the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises association (Isme).
In a strongly worded statement, the association called on the Government to “get a grasp of reality and show some sorely needed leadership”, even bringing in emergency legislation to enforce pay-cuts if necessary.
“As the country battles to stay solvent and braces itself for the most draconian budget in modern times, it is irresponsible and irrational to ignore the costs of running the public sector and give pay, perks and position guarantees to an elite class, while the nation struggles to survive,” the statement said.
The statement added that it was “totally unrealistic” to think that savings of €15 billion could be achieved without cuts in public sector spending: “The fact that public sector pay accounts for more than one-third of current expenditure means that the need for payroll cuts is beyond question.”
The association’s chief executive Mark Fielding said: “It is ludicrous in the extreme to maintain the Croke Park agreement, which actually guarantees wages in the public sector until 2014 and guarantees no compulsory redundancies across the State workforce in the same timeframe.
“It is no wonder that international bondholders have little faith in an administration that is in thrall to the unions and runs scared of tackling one of its biggest costs, the public sector.
“It has been over six months since the Croke Park agreement and to date we have seen absolutely no improvement.”
He added that, “in the past the public sector unions have threatened strikes, civil disruption and legal challenges to potential pay cuts. Should this scenario repeat, the Government must introduce emergency legislation to carry through the measures.
“The public sector unions must be made realise that a ‘national plan’ to address the catastrophic public finances cannot avoid pay cuts in the public sector,” Mr Fielding said.
