ISME chief urges public sector overhaul
The Irish Small and Medium Enterprise Association chief has called for a public sector overhaul to provide better value for money.
ISME chief executive Mark Fielding was speaking to delegates at the Institute of Industrial Engineers’ Annual Conference in Limerick today.
Mr Fielding criticised the "cost, inefficiencies and unaccountability" of the public sector, calling for an immediate overhaul of the system in order to provide a value for money service.
Mr Fielding said many small business owners and employees in the private sector were appalled at CSO figures which showed public sector wages increasing by an average 9.3% in 2004 with an average wage in the public sector now €41,700, a massive 43% above the average industrial wage of €29,200 and 90% above the average in the SME sector.
"The wage comparison puts paid once and for all to the lie that has been perpetrated by the powerful public sector unions that wages in the public sector had fallen behind those in the private sector," he said.
Fielding stated: "If we are serious about having a public sector that is efficient, effective and accountable, it is essential that the Government stops 'kowtowing' to every whim and fancy of the public sector unions and insist on clear evidence of productivity increases before pay increases."
