Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)

This is yet another attack on living standards and working conditions that were fought for and hard won. The outrageous media campaign suggesting that public sector workers are overpaid and underworked and receive fat pensions is scandalous. None of it is based on actual fact. Comparisons with public sector numbers and pay levels in other OECD countries show that numbers and pay levels in Ireland are generally lower, albeit with some exceptions. If one were to believe the so-called newspapers, such as the Sunday Independent, one would be under the impression that it is a crime for a working person to have a secure and reasonably paid job and to benefit from an adequate pension after 40 years of hard work.

When I left school in 1979, I went looking for work. My parents directed me towards the Civil Service, advising me that although pay levels were not great, I would get a pension at the end of my career. They said I might have received great pay in the private sector but I might not get a great pension at the end of it. People were actively encouraged to go into the public sector so they would have something at least at the end of 40 years of hard work. The United Left Alliance regrets the anti-working class propaganda I have mentioned. It is a shame that Labour Party Ministers are not doing the same.

The argument that public sector pensions should be cut because private sector pensions have been devastated in the financial meltdown is a false one. My United Left Alliance colleagues have made the point that no pension should be cut. The problem with private sector pensions is the profit making of the companies and fees managers involved. The fees that are charged can be higher than the amount the person is putting in. Irish private pension schemes lost 35.7% of their value in 2008. The OECD average was 17%. Public sector pensions involve no management fees and virtually no administration costs.

The real scandal in this country is that 30% of pensioners live in poverty. That is double the OECD average. Real reform in this area would involve giving every citizen an adequate State pension - of at least 45% of their annual wages, as has already been explained - when they reach retirement age. Public and private sector employers should have to contribute to the funding of this. The average public sector pension is not extremely generous. The average occupational pension paid to a person who has worked as a teacher for 40 years is €22,000. Just 4.5% of public sector pensions are more than €55,000. No savings will be made as a result of these proposals until new entrants start to retire in 2058. The Government should act now by capping public sector pay at €100,000 and pensions at €50,000. Surely this would be better than creating a two-tier workforce in the public sector.

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