In that the Government has committed itself to protecting the base rate of social welfare payments – regardless of the fact that they appear to surpass the amounts paid in most of our European Union partner countries, including the UK which appears to pay out just half of what Ireland pays – the Department of Social Protection is scrambling to find cuts in other areas that will shave seven hundred million from the annual budget.
While, of course, in an ideal World it is ideal to be able to pay out high social welfare payments, the Department seems to be shifting the burden of cuts onto the private sector employers and this policy can only serve to further strain company cash flows and jeopardise existing jobs and future job creation.
The banner proposal is to compel employers pay the first month of an employees sick leave, regardless of pre-existing employment contracts. This is estimated to shave one hundred and fifty million off the Social Protection bill each year.
Further announcements include the fact that Public Sector will see some constraints applied to their rates of annual leave, with minimum allowances being reduced to a minimum of twenty two days per annum to a maximum of thirty days depending on grade.
There doesn’t seem to be any clarification at this point as to whether this will be only applied to new entrants to The Public Sector – if so, unlikely to make much difference as there is an ongoing hiring freeze – or if it is something that is to be applied to existing Public Sector workers. If it is a case that it is to be applied to existing workers, there will no doubt be the usual digging in of heels by the Unions. Their recalcitrance in the face of such issues has already been evident in the battles they fought over the eighty something leave days per annum that FAS workers have been entitled to in the years preceding retirement – this to all sane people is a ludicrous situtation, explained away as necessary to prepare FAS workers for the transition to retirement – nevertheless, the unions thought it justifiable and fought to maintain this. If the Governentt is to continue the destructive policy of squeezing more cuts from the private sector, it is only because they are eternally intimidated by these barmy Public Sector union officials.