Irish Workers Highest Paid

T

TLC

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Anyone any thoughts on the report from Prices and Earnings Report from Swiss Bank UBS? Not surprising but were high wages & costs a result of the overheating property prices - or the other way round? They say despite the collapse of the property market prices are still 10th most expensive city in the world.
 
I don't think Irish industrial workers on 25k-40k are overpaid.

The following are overpaid:

landlords (commercial rents way too high)
bank executives
most other executives
barristers
solicitors (even though many are unemployed)
medical consultants
dentists
judges
teachers + guards (well more like underworked in terms of days)
 
TLC said:
They say despite the collapse of the property market prices are still 10th most expensive city in the world.
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Yes, our commercial rents are still too high.

Pubs and shops are shutting all over the place - due to excessive rental and property costs.
 
The report didn't say Dubliners were the highest paid, or even the fourth highest paid. It said Dubliners were the 10th highest paid. A league table of total cost per employee to each employer would likely put Dubliners even further down the table - because of low employers prsi.

Dubliners after tax incomes were the fourth highest, because of low personal taxes in Ireland (and remained fourth highest even when adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity).

This report is not evidence of high wages and costs!

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The real issue is that social welfare rates and minimum wage rates in this company are artificially inflating prices and wage levels in this country:
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We have the second highest min wage in Europe behind Lux, and a rate of unemployment benefit that pays out in excess of the minumum wage rates in every single one of the new EU countries.

In order to get some realism back into the economy again, we need to cut UB from north of €250 per week down to €70 - 90 per week, and cut the minimum wage by at least 50%.

Painful medicine, but it needs to be done
 
BeanPole said:
In order to get some realism back into the economy again, we need to cut UB from north of €250 per week down to €70 - 90 per week, and cut the minimum wage by at least 50%.
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Do you really think that's the answer?
Could you survive on €70 a week?
 
I could easily survive on €200+ per week, plus some or all of the following:
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My point is that there needs to be an incentive for people to work. Otherwise you end up with a whole raft of society becoming reliant on government handouts
 
Cat101 said:
Familys being forced to live in poverty...Are you people serious?
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No one is being "forced" to do anything. As a society we cannot afford the welfare state we have built around us. We need to encourage people to get out and into employment as quickly as we can.
 
BeanPole said:
My point is that there needs to be an incentive for people to work. Otherwise you end up with a whole raft of society becoming reliant on government handouts
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I think the Irish public deserve more credit than that. People do want to work as they did during the boom time. With businesses and factorys closing down every day what are people suppose to do?
 
Cat101 said:
With businesses and factorys closing down every day what are people suppose to do?
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Time to lower your sights a bit.

To spell out my points yet again:

1) We, as a people, can no longer afford to pay high welfare rates. As one contributor has pointed out, our UB payments are more than three times those offered in the UK. I think most sensible Irish people understand this.

2) We should not have an incentive for people to sit on the dole waiting for a job similar to their previous one to miracluously appear. As you have pointed out, there are businesses closing everyday. However, there are also huge shortages of staff in the service industry (eateries, cleaning companies, etc), and no real incentive for anyone to fill these roles which is part of the reason why we still have immigration into this country.

Time for a collective wake up call on this one.
 
BeanPole said:
We need to encourage people to get out and into employment as quickly as we can.
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How can you say that when there is not enough jobs around for everyone at the moment.

There is a huge difference with people not wanting to work, and people who just cant get a job at the moment.

If this was 5 years ago i would totally agree with you, i think we all know at least someone, who was capable of work just didn't want to work, and was happy to spend their lives on benefits.

For those people yes they should be on the bare minimum for them to see that they would be much better off working than claiming social welfare, but you cant seperate between the two at the moment.

I dont see the goverment has any choice at the moment, you cant expect someone that used to have a good paying job to suddenly survive on €70.

Yes i agree our minimum wage should be reduced but not 50%, i heard lots of people mention the difference in prices between the uk and Ireland ( me being one of them ) but you cant have things both ways. You cant expect high wages and then pay the same prices as the uk.
 
BeanPole said:
. However, there are also huge shortages of staff in the service industry (eateries, cleaning companies, etc).
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These jobs would be in the minimum wage catagory...which you recommend should be cut by 50%. What would that be; €3 an hour?
People and their familys suffer terribly when they loose a good job and have to seek UB. To suggest that they have no incentive to work is insulting to them.
 
BeanPole said:
However, there are also huge shortages of staff in the service industry (eateries, cleaning companies, etc), and no real incentive for anyone to fill these roles which is part of the reason why we still have immigration into this country.
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I dont think it's just because there's no incentive for people to want to do these jobs. It's the employer as well.

My bf has a leaflet distribution comapany, i've lost count of the number of people that have come to him looking for work in the last 5-6 months. And i'd say 90% of these people are not immigrants. He has even lost a friendship over this as he didn't have the work to employ someone else and his friend said he should "get rid" of one of his foreign workers and give him the job instead. My bf refused to do this.

The lads we have working for us are bloody hard workers will come in no matter what the weather is, or if they are feeling a bit under the weather, you can rely on them.

This friend only wanted a job untill something better came along he had no intention of doing this long term, the poor guy we sacked cant get work anywhere else and goes home. Then when things pick up we have no one to work for us, and that then effects his business.

I'm sure he's not the only employer that will think this way.
 
Cat101 said:
Oh well that's okay then!

Familys being forced to live in poverty...Are you people serious?
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No we just need to cut the cost of living for essential items at the same rate as SW cuts then there standard of living doesent change. Should be pretty easy as we pay over the odds for everything in this country compared other countries.
 
steve1234 said:
No we just need to cut the cost of living for essential items at the same rate as SW cuts then there standard of living doesent change. Should be pretty easy as we pay over the odds for everything in this country compared other countries.
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Cutting wages and other imput costs will lower prices.
 
Purple said:
Cutting wages and other imput costs will lower prices.
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Agreed - and the first pay cuts should be on the sheltered sector in the public service.

An across the board pay cut of 20% should make any reduction in minimum wage and social welfare payments a lot more palatable and equitable
 
BeanPole said:
Agreed - and the first pay cuts should be on the sheltered sector in the public service.

An across the board pay cut of 20% should make any reduction in minimum wage and social welfare payments a lot more palatable and equitable
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How about cutting vat to 0% for people on SW for essential items.
Then cut 12.5% off the SW allowance.
So then the 210 dole cheque a week now becomes 183.50
People could swipe there social card in shops or the number taken down.
It means there standard of living is not changing.
Also cuts out some SW money being spent on booze and smokes and people with there mates claiming for them while there in thailand and australia wont get the benifit either.
 
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