KomradeBishop wrote: » We have the lowest interest rate on government bonds/debt for over 30 years right now - we should be expanding the budget deficit (both through spending and tax reductions), to grow the economy, given that doing so would be so cheap to do right now - and then bring it back to surplus when we have full private sector employment. Pointless trying to pay down our national debt, when it can be expanded sustainably (due to quarter-century-low interest rates), when we aren't even running at full economic capacity yet - when we've got everyone back working, i.e. when tax income is at its maximum potential and the economy is at full speed, that is when you pay down debts, as you can pay them back much faster then.
jcon1913 wrote: » Check the rates life assurance companies pay on annuities - about 2.5% of a fund for a 65 year old. Therefore you woukd need a fund of 680,000 at date of retirement. Youll have paid in 290,000. Get a pension calculatir to see what annual interest etc you woukd need to earn on your contributions over the 40 years. Food for thought.
Quin_Dub wrote: » Public Sector employee - Fixed pay rates , no bonus , will only get pay rises when everyone gets exactly the same % increase. Everyone is rewarded the same regardless of effort or quality of work. In the long run why would anyone in the public sector strive to be better , to work harder if there is no reward at the end of it . .
Riskymove wrote: » I presume he means the lump sum all private pension funds can produce a similar lump sum which is tax free under €200,000
Iwasfrozen wrote: » Surely even your economics doesn't think borrowing money to pay wages is a good idea? Infrastructure upgrades I could live with but wages is asinine.
heretochat wrote: » I knew when I saw the newspaper reports at the weekend regarding a public sector pay increase that the usual boards public sector bashing thread would appear with all sorts of vitriolic comment thrown in for good measure. Let me clarify - I work in the private sector and have always done so. That is my chosen career path, I paid for my own third level education and am happy with where I am. I live comfortably enough and have no reason to nit pick as to what other peoples' earnings may be. I have had the normal interaction with public services and can't complain in the vast majority of cases with the level of professionalism I encountered. I see comments on this and other threads about the great pay and pensions etc in the public sector. To those who brandish this particular argument over and over again I would ask this - why keep looking on from the outside and complaining about it? If the perks are so good, why not join the "party"? From what I can gather there is a lot of open recruitment to the public service now anyway so that is surely an option. Of course, if such persons were to do so they would have no flaming pitchfork to wave around anymore :rolleyes: Also I see a lot of comments about Guards, nurses, teachers being paid x2, x3 etc the rate paid elsewhere. Can't recall seeing much in the way of proof of this though. So some sources to inform the debate would help. Anyway that is just my two cents. I will give way now to the raving brigade again
jcon1913 wrote: » the ESRI found that public servants were paid 20% above comparably qualified private sector workers before public service pay cuts.
KomradeBishop wrote: » Every government on the planet borrows money - whether it's a good idea or not depends on whether the borrowing is sustainable, and the sustainability is determined primarily by the interest rate (currently at its lowest level in more than 30 years), not by the overall level of debt.
You could fund a jobs program at the minimum wage if you like, employing people to work on infrastructure, rather than providing wage increases. Whatever gets more money into the private sector (and public spending increases and tax reductions, are some of the few remaining ways to pump money into the private sector, that aren't already tapped out as much as they can sustainably be).
Riskymove wrote: » i.e. graduates get on better and earn more in the PS I'm sure qualified people in finance earn more than comparably qualified people working in retail
bjork wrote: » What improvement to productivity has been made since they last went looking for a payrise?
osarusan wrote: » what kind of improvements in productivity do you expect from...say... a fireman? Or a heart surgeon?
Riskymove wrote: » The Haddington Road Agreement and before it the Croke Park Agreement introduced a number of productivity measures....feel free to research!
darkpagandeath wrote: » Were they not to get people working at a reasonable rate nothing near private sector. You know take 5 calls instead of 2.
bjork wrote: » More fires put out in shorter times More hearts operated on. Less waiting lists.
bjork wrote: » Introducing measures is all well and good. What's happening on the ground?
Riskymove wrote: » as I said, feel free to research
osarusan wrote: » Oops, meant to edit my post but deleted it instead. What if there are fewer fires for them to put out? But those fires they do have to deal with are bigger?What if there are fewer hearts to be operated on?
Riskymove wrote: » I appreciate some people won't be happy until PS have no leave at all and work 24 hours a day....but as I said...feel free to research
darkpagandeath wrote: » If it was anything impressive it would have been linked fairly sharpish.
darkpagandeath wrote: » Nope just something close to the hours put in in a private sector job.
Riskymove wrote: » so it is clear you won't research it...probably suits the agenda to just make assumptions anyway
darkpagandeath wrote: » Down size staff numbers in that case.
Riskymove wrote: » talk to any junior doctor
osarusan wrote: » Not relevant to the point I was making though.
darkpagandeath wrote: » What about the absolute tunes of back office staff ?
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