30 September 2005
Northern Ireland Secretary Peter Hain has been criticised by the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance for calling for a reduction in the size of the province's public sector.
Nipsa general secretary John Corey said: 'There is no doubt there are massive problems with the public sector in Northern Ireland. However, we most strongly refute the analysis that cutting public services or transferring functions from the public sector to the private sector is the remedy.'
Last week, Hain called for radical change to the Northern Ireland public sector. In his first major speech since his appointment, he said that spending should be directed more towards education, skills training, child care and the promotion of innovation, rather than 'public sector bureaucracy' and 'subsidising economic inactivity'.
He added that there must also be more investment in transport, energy, water and communications.
One of the principles behind reform, he argued, must be to reduce the additional cost of public service provision caused by the divisions in the province. But he added that residents would have to pay much more for public services.
'Although Northern Ireland already has the highest level of per capita public spending of any economic region in the UK, conversely, on locally raised revenue, we are well behind the rest of the UK,' he said. 'This is simply not sustainable.'
He reiterated that the Review of Public Administration, the results of which are soon to be announced, will reduce costs in quangos, local government and the health service.
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