Budget 2013

James Reilly, after going missing for some time, reappeared yesterday to lay the blame for his failings on the public service employees.

The good Dr Reilly is following a trend that has served this government well since they got into power - blame anyone other than themselves.
It is a familiar refrain from Enda Kenny as soon as he is questioned in the Dáil by a Fianna Fáil TD. In fact it is such a common refrain from him that you could simply place a recording in the Dáil to respond to their questions - "You had your chance while in government and that is why we're in the position we're in now" or "We have to deliver a tough budget because of your mistakes" would suffice for most questions thrown in his direction.
Now, I'm not a supporter of Fianna Fáil. Far from it. However, I am wondering how long it will be before the voters in this country will start questioning the validity of this common refrain from the government parties.
Will they ever?

What James Reilly has done is not a new tactic. On the contrary. We saw it used to devastating effect when the last government pitted public sector against private sector to deflect what was really happening in the country.
At that time, we were told that public sector workers were being paid too much in comparison to their private sector counterparts who were experiencing redundancies in a wholesale manner.
Public sector workers had the benefit of guaranteed permanent jobs with 'Rolls Royce' pensions.
The tactic worked a treat. Pat Kenny's 'The Frontline' actually segregated an audience into Public and Private sector and they threw insults at each other like football fans divided by stewards at an English league match.
Public sector pay was cut for the second time and then the inevitable happened. An employer brought a case to the Labour Relations Commission asking for a 7 percent pay cut for electricians 'in line with the cut taken by public servants.'
You see, not only did the government succeed in their attempt to divide and conquer the population, they also succeeded in getting the best possible deal for their bed mates - namely IBEC and the rest of the employer groups. Big business won. And those from middle class downwards lost.

Today, James Reilly has failed. He has failed to do any of the things he promised and he knows that. Rather than shoulder the blame himself though, James Reilly has decided to hit out at workers and get their pay cut. No doubt thejournal.ie and boards.ie are buzzing with excited punters agreeing with James Reilly. Let's cut the pay of public servants for a third time. Take more money out of the economy, thus causing private sector jobs to be lost. simple, innit.

Let's not forget that the budget is 3 months away. Last year's budget had James Reilly announce a new scheme offering free GP care for Long Term Illness (LTI) patients. This has not been done. This was a totally new scheme thought up by this government that has not been carried through. The silence in the media is deafening.

I must admit that I do have a vested interest here. My wife is a teacher. While I work in the private sector myself, I know exactly what the impact of 2 pay cuts on a public servant is. Because it has impacted on me too. I see her every evening with an increased work load for less pay. She is working an extra hour a week for a 15% pay cut. She has lost the will to fight back when people talk about her wages, which deliver 25000 euro to the house net each year before mortgage, childcare, car loan etc. are taken into account. We are struggling badly. We work hard, pay all our bills and taxes. And we really struggle.
We are constantly told about the "Rolls Royce" pensions. The simple fact is that public servants have no choice other than to pay into their pension scheme from the second they start work. So they pay a pension contribution for up to 40 years before they start getting paid back.
They don't just get paid by taxpayers, they are taxpayers.
I know there are lazy, useless public servants. There are lazy, useless people in my workplace too.
To be honest, I'm just a tad sick of the public vs private argument. It's about time we realised that fraudulent people like James Reilly shouldn't be listened too under any circumstances. He is a liar and a man of dubious character.

James Reilly has taken a very old tactic and put it to use at this time. Blame everyone but yourself when you screw up. When you fail to do what you said you would do, when you set targets you don't reach, when you fail in your role - take no personal responsibility. In Ireland, there are always scapegoats. James Reilly just managed to find 300000 of them.