The "benchmarking" scheme was shown to have been a sham and claims that private sector staff for comparable grades were earning more, were shown to be false.
No Irish Government minister has ever disputed the claims that it was a fraudulent scheme.
Add the subsequent increases on the average payment and a cut of even more than 10% would still leave public service in the money.
Before the recent spate of cuts in the private sector, public sector pay by comparable grade, had a margin of 10% to 30% according to the ESRI, research published in December 2008.
Crony Ireland and misperceptions on pay and pensions between Irish public and private sector workers
