ISME slams benchmarking 'scam'
ISME boss Mark Fielding has questioned the Government’s commitment to reducing public sector numbers and curtailing the runaway cost of public sector pay.
Mr Fielding was referring to today's data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) that public sector wages increased by an average 5.7% - more than twice the rate of inflation - in 2005.
He said the average wage in the public sector now €44,141, "a massive 47% above the average industrial wage of €30,000 and a whopping 90% above the average in the SME sector".
"The wage comparison confirms, if confirmation was needed, that wages in the public sector are increasing beyond those in the private sector, the reverse of which was the basis for their claims for benchmarking," said Mr Fielding.
"The statistics confirm that benchmarking is one of the greatest scams foisted on the Irish people by the public sector, aided and abetted by the weak-kneed Government and a compliant IBEC, ravaging the public finances, without a thought for the economy."
