Skip to content
2009

SIPTU leader condemns ESRI support for Government policy of placing entire burden of fiscal adjustment on working people

Date Released: 13 Oct 2009

Jack O’Connor, President of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and General President of SIPTU, commenting on media reports this morning on the latest views expressed by the Economic and Social Research Institute in its quarterly review said:

“While at least opposing the obscenity of cutting welfare rates, the Institute is nevertheless continuing its dutiful role as a cheer leader for the Government policy of imposing the entire burden of fiscal adjustment on working people and the less well-off, while the wealthy are insulated from any requirement to contribute at all.

“Cutting child benefit will impact most severely on middle and lower income families. This should be tackled by a progressive tax on those who can afford to contribute.

“The rhetorical calls for further cuts in the pay of people who work in the public service flies in the face of the latest figures emerging from the Central Statistics Office, which provoked even their own John Fitzgerald to declare that he would not call for any further pay cuts on these workers.”





Previous and Next: 2010 | 2008