The new edition of Work & Life magazine is now being distributed to your workplace. The latest issue looks at the work of the Nevin Economic Research Institute and of our speech and language therapists. Read about Barry Cunningham’s trek to Mount Everest base camp to raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland and, in travel, we explore the Mekong in South East Asia. We also look at the implications for social workers as new fitness to practise procedures are introduced, and lots more of our usual features including music, books, food and gardens.

Pay recovery across all sectors of the Irish economy is vital if the Government is to achieve its target of full employment by 2018.

IMPACT general secretary, Shay Cody, said that the Government’s objective to achieve full employment two years earlier than originally planned is ambitious. Shay said “Every trade union wishes to see this objective realised, but it can only be achieved by enabling workers to spend more in the domestic economy.

“Pay improvements across all sectors would have the immediate effect of boosting domestic demand. Most of that money would go straight into Ireland’s small and medium businesses as the extra cash is far more likely to be spent locally. This would be a key driver of job creation and the improvement of living standards generally” he said.

Shay also welcomed comments by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin TD, that talks around the restoration of public sector pay are expected to begin in the spring.

Shay said “Wage movement is just one vital ingredient of economic recovery, and public service pay improvement is just one element of that. Income recovery is needed right across the economy. That includes the community, voluntary, commercial and private sectors.”

Shay said that at the time of the Haddington Road agreement it was acknowledged that, if economic circumstances improved earlier than anticipated, there could be a discussion about pay recovery before the expiration of the HRA. “The state’s spending deficit is expected to go below the 3% target set by the Troika this year. Ireland’s deficit and borrowing costs will be lower than those of France, Britain and other EU states. 

“These are welcome signposts that show we’re moving out of the crisis, and they are accompanied by signs of pay movement in sectors such as construction, retail, finance and in the multinationals” he said.

Shay added that CSO figures published last November revealed that average annual earnings have fallen despite economic growth and longer working hours. “Workers have yet to feel any real effect of economic recovery. Recovery can’t be sustained, and the necessary jobs cannot be created, without real wage recovery” he said.

The ‘Reboot Ireland’ campaign, which is expected to launch a new political party by next month, has already made its intentions clear to freeze public sector pay.

The campaign, launched by TD Lucinda Creighton and celebrity financial adviser Eddie Hobbs earlier this month, has already attracted widespread criticism for not having any real policies. Despite the absence of a manifesto or policy programme, the as-yet-unnamed political party seems very keen to contain public service pay.

At the campaign launch Mr Hobbs said "Public sector remuneration would not increase, unless the minimum lifestyle standard increased first. That would be the primary objective of Government - I can't be any clearer than that.” Mr Hobbs said that a key objective of the party would be to “minimise the cost” of the public sector to the State.

Another campaign message of Reboot Ireland is that it wants to “make the public sector public.” This vague slogan is described as “fostering a spirit of entrepreneurism in our public sector that will reward those who work the hardest and deliver the best results for our public services.”

Both Ms Creighton and Mr Hobbs have a long track record of hostility to public sector trade unions, with both writing regularly in daily newspapers attacking public service pay and pensions.

While very little is known about the new party’s policy programme, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that the public sector and trade unions will be a regular target of hostility. It is likely that some of Reboot Ireland’s political competitors will join in on the act, as TD John McGuinness has already done in a recent column in the Irish Independent.

If this is to continue, public sector workers are set to become regular political targets ahead of the next general election, which is expected in early 2016.

IMPACT national secretary Louise O’Donnell responded directly to Mr McGuinness and to the letters page of the Irish Independent. The Irish Independent declined to publish IMPACT’s response.

In a recent column in the Irish Independent, chair of the Dáil Public Accounts Committee (PAC)  John McGuinness TD, claimed that there are 3,000 middle managers ‘surplus to requirements’ in the HSE, and identified the surplus as the root cause of all the problems in the Irish health service.

IMPACT national secretary Louise O’Donnell responded in a letter to Mr McGuinness. Louise wrote, “It remains the most enduring myth of our health services that it is overburdened with clerical, administrative and management staff. Between 2009 and 2013, numbers of staff employed in these categories fell by more than any other, with the exception of general support staff.

“The most recent figures available show that there are almost 100,000 staff employed in the health sector. Of these, only 15% are in administrative or managerial roles such as medical secretaries, medical records, finance, information technology, human resources and similar.

“Of the administrative staff complement almost 11,000 are clerical and related, 3,700 are line managers/supervisors and specialists and only 890 are in management grades (less than 1% of the total workforce)” she said.

Louise said that the figures revealed that there could not be 3,000 surplus managers as claimed by McGuinness. “In any event, the Haddington Road Agreement provides for redeployment throughout the wider public service if any public service employer was to conclude that it has ‘surplus’ staff. This has not been the experience within our health services, where chronic staff shortages are placing extra pressure on service delivery” she said.

McGuinness’s column was a response to the launch of the ‘Reboot Ireland’ campaign, which has already identified its goal of freezing public sector pay.

Louise added “The ‘Reboot Ireland’ campaign appears ready to indulge in broad attacks on health service workers, and others in the public sector, for political advantage. It is disappointing, to say the least, to see you once again take aim at these workers in order to score points against an emerging potential opponent .”

Louise told Mr McGuinness she would welcome an opportunity to meet him to discuss the issues in relation to the staffing of health services.

Louise also sent a letter of response for publication to the Irish Independent. The paper has so far declined to publish the letter.

IMPACT national secretary Matt Staunton has written to the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Paschal Donohoe TD, outlining the concerns of IMPACT members at Aer Lingus about the consequences of a successful takeover of the airline by International Airlines Group (IAG).

Matt wrote to the minister as speculation continues to mount about the imminent possibility of a third bid for Aer Lingus, following the rejection of two IAG bids for Aer Lingus last month.

Matt wrote that the proposed takeover of Aer Lingus by IAG represents significant risks to Irish interests, in terms of accessibility to Ireland for both business and tourism. “It also represents a significant risk to the security of employment for Irish workers employed directly or indirectly by Aer Lingus” he said.

Matt urged the minister to consider a number of key points of national interest if a sale of the State shareholding to IAG is to be considered:

• As an island nation the State should maintain some holding in an airline that serves to maintain strong links with EU, US and other critical trading partners.
• The sole purpose of IAG’s bid is to expand its own commercial interests, and the cost of such expansion to Aer Lingus and the Irish market are likely to be secondary considerations.
• Heathrow airport is a vital hub connection for Ireland. Aer Lingus is the third largest holder of slots in Heathrow. IAG is the largest.
• These slots will make greater returns for IAG if they are used to service the London - US market rather than the London - Dublin market. In such circumstances they would also encroach on the successful direct connections provided by Aer Lingus between Ireland and the US.
• It is in the best interests of IAG to funnel as many passengers from UK provincial and Irish airports through its Heathrow hub at Terminal 5. Over one million passengers per year travel from UK provincial airports to use Dublin Terminal 2 as a hub to the US. This is lucrative long haul business that British Airways / IAG would like to reclaim.

“IAG’s business plan, in the event of a successful takeover bid, remains unknown. Our best guide to the company’s likely actions can only be informed by IAG’s participation in the last takeover bid by Ryanair. That bid involved dismembering Aer Lingus between three entities: Ryanair, IAG and Flybe. The proposal sought to carve up assets, including the Heathrow slots, transatlantic operation and the Aer Lingus brand, between the three companies” he said.

Matt added that there were very limited undertakings from IAG as to the eventual use of the Heathrow slots after an initial period of three to five years. “There is no evidence to suggest that the current IAG bid is not similar in its intentions” he said.

Employment and Industrial considerations

Currently, Aer Lingus directly employs 3,900 people. The overwhelming majority (90%) of these employees live and work in Dublin. 2,100 of the total work exclusively on the ground in areas such as clerical, operative, and other ‘back office’ roles.

Matt advised the minister that, for the purpose of the takeover, IAG would have to identify cost and revenue synergies which would justify their investment. “One of the primary cost synergies arising would come from a reduction in the Aer Lingus employee headcount particularly in the ‘back office’ where there would be readily identifiable duplication with existing resources in London and, possibly, IAG’s base in Madrid (Iberia). This is also true of some maintenance functions, given the substantial IAG maintenance facilities in London and Madrid.

“Executive and senior decision making would transfer to London, with perhaps a token executive presence in Dublin. Following the IAG takeover of Iberia, the company announced 4,500 job losses. On a like for like basis with Iberia this would represent job losses of between 1,000 and 1,200 in Aer Lingus at Dublin airport.

“We’ve confirmed these estimates with analysts in Dublin and London. Following the rejection of the two initial bids, a research note from Nomura observes that any material bid increase is unlikely to be forthcoming without the ability to drive significant cost synergies” Matt said.

Matt has sought a meeting with the minister to further discuss the issues arising from any potential sale of the State’s 25 per cent holding in Aer Lingus.

Chambers Ireland warns on Heathrow slots

Chambers Ireland has also expressed its concerns regarding the value of the Heathrow slots, and has advised that guarantees should be secured on retaining the slots in the event of a sale of the State’s Aer Lingus share.

In a statement yesterday (Thursday), chief executive of Chambers Ireland Ian Talbot said “Heathrow is a vital hub for Ireland, offering connectivity to key international markets across the globe. Given its strategic importance, we must maintain and secure access to Heathrow from all State airports. The loss of these slots would have significant implications for foreign direct investment, regional economic growth, business tourism and tourism in general.”

Irish trade unions have expressed solidarity with the people of France following last week’s terrorist attacks at the offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket in Paris, which left 17 people dead.

In a letter to the French ambassador, ICTU general secretary David Begg expressed condolences on behalf of Irish trade unions. “It was with deep shock that we watched the events in Paris unfold. This brutal attack on people as they went about their daily work was a source of deep distress to us, even more so as it became clear that they had been attacked simply because of the work they did” he said.

Union leaders were joined by politicians, the French ambassador and 400 others in a ceremony at Dublin Castle last Saturday. Irish NUJ Chairman Gerry Curran spoke of the attacks on reporters all over the world who face danger while carrying out their job.

An NUJ delegation travelled to Paris to take part in the biggest rally in French history last Sunday, and walked with French trade unions and families of the victims.

An opinion poll carried out by TASC last November gives an insight on the views of Irish people regarding pay, income equality and taxes.

TASC is a progressive think tank, which seeks to raise public awareness about political and economic issues facing Irish society.

According to the poll the majority of Irish people want Ireland to be more equal through boosting the minimum wage, capping high pay, raising taxes and providing more quality public services.

Some of the main findings include:

• 50% of Irish people say that they are willing to pay higher taxes if high quality public services are guaranteed
• 83% feel income in Ireland is unfairly distributed
• 84% feel the government should increase the minimum wage

TASC’s analysis shows that half of Ireland’s adult population (50%) are willing to pay higher taxes if guaranteed high quality public services or new/expanded public services. People were asked how willing they would be to pay more taxes – as opposed to putting additional taxes on other individuals.

The full poll findings are available here.

RELATED: Nevin Institute blog raises issue of low taxes and poor public services

Hospital overcrowding, increased homelessness and the direct provision system demonstrates a connection between low taxation and poor public services. That’s the conclusion of Nevin Institute director, Tom Healy, in his latest blog post.

While significant taxes are being funnelled into paying off the bank debt, the tax paid by ‘average’, ‘below average’ and ‘above average’ workers in Ireland is, he says, are well below the European and North American average.

The blog also reports that:

• those on the average wage in Ireland pay 17.9% of their income
• the lower paid, those on 67% of the average wage, pay the lowest on taxes at 11.5%
• well-off tax payers, on 200% of the average wage, pay 34.9%

These figures are for single workers, and taxation rates for couples are more favourable.

Of the 29 countries examined in the report, (within Europe, North America and Australia) Ireland pays the lowest amount in taxes for people on below average and average wages. Ireland is more ‘middle of the road’ when it comes to our high earners; ranking twelfth in the grouping. Belgium taxes their high earners the highest tax at over 50%.  

Tom doesn’t argue for tax increases for average and below average workers, He says there is a more urgent need right now to restore living standards and boost domestic demand. This needs to be achieved he says “through a growth in quality employment and a recovery in wages with priority for those on low pay”. 

He says the alarming aspect of the situation is that very few observers acknowledge the facts about Irish taxation or want to do so. Tom concludes “Worse still many (most?) see no connection between low taxes and very inadequate public services. And in the competition for the next phase of economic development it would appear that cutting taxes is priority item number one on the list.”

An interview with Tom Healy is one of the main features of the latest edition of Work & Life magazine. The magazine is currently being distributed to workplaces, and is available to view online here.

It was with great sadness that we learned of the passing of our dear former colleague Maura O’Connor just before Christmas. Maura worked for IMPACT for over a decade. Working closely with official Matt Staunton she looked after the members from the Civil Service; Education; Health and Welfare; Local Government; and Services and Enterprises divisions.

Maura stood out for her pleasant demeanour and ability to connect with individual members that made contact with us in head office over those years. When Maura retired, just a few years ago, she looked forward to retirement with her beloved Padraic. Sadly, Maura suffered a long illness which she very bravely, and with great dignity, faced and fought to the end. She is mourned by many in IMPACT and is missed every single day.

Catherine (Kitty) Dunne

Just before Christmas we heard of the death of Catherine (Kitty) Dunne, aged 90. Kitty was the first female president of the Association of Officers of Taxes, a pre-curser to the former Tax Officials branch of IMPACT, back in 1968. For a woman to be elected to such a position in the 1960s was a great achievement, and made headline news in the Sunday Press at the time.

Kitty joined the civil service in 1941. She learned of her appointment to the post of writing assistant by a telegram written in old Irish.  She became involved in the Association because she wished to oppose unfairness, defend public sector pay and conditions and to represent her members.

She served with distinction in the civil service, both in Dublin and London, until the late 1980s. She retired at assistant principal level from the Revenue Commissioners. Throughout her career Kitty was committed to working for the welfare and advancement of her staff and colleagues by whom she is fondly remembered. Our condolences go to her family. May she rest in peace.