21,000 extra public servants recruited since 2002
04/11/2005 - 07:34:28More than 21,000 public servants have reportedly been recruited over the past three years despite government promises to reduce staff numbers by 5,000.
Former Finance Minister Charlie McCreevy introduced an employment cap in 2002 in an effort to contain the public sector pay bill and vowed at the time that staff levels would be reduced by 5,000 by 2005.
However, reports this morning said that plan had effectively been abandoned, with 21,000 extra public servants hired since 2002, pushing the pay bill up to €15bn this year.
Most of the new jobs have reportedly been created in education, health and the civil service, while some 500 new gardaí have also been recruited.
