Sir,– Ciarán Hancock (March 27th) does your readers a great service by acknowledging that the much-publicised report on public sector pay by Davy stockbrokers, which found that public staff earn 40 per cent above those in the private sector, was at odds with a recent paper by the CSO which found that public sector workers are paid slightly less than their private sector counterparts overall!
The Davy report notes that about half of the pay differential that they have identified can be attributed to differences in education, experience, qualifications, etc.
What is the point of making a comparison between these two sectors which vary enormously in size, educational attainment, etc?
The Davy report also mentions the issue of public sector pensions and ignores the fact that in the second round of benchmarking in 2008, only 11 per cent of public servants, ie those earning the most, were awarded an increase, whereas the remaining 89 per cent did not receive any award, as a discount of 12 per cent was applied for the value of their pensions.
The average public sector pension is €20,000 and this is an integrated pension; such pensioners do not receive the state pension in addition to this. Public servants do pay PRSI, a pension contribution and a pension levy, and this amounts to 16 per cent of salary.
The study by Davy only serves to divide public and private sector workers who both deserve a decent wage and pension to enable them to live fulfilling lives and make a contribution to society. – Yours, etc,
BERNADINE O SULLIVAN,
Terenure,
Dublin 6W .