ATM Scam

There has been a lot of publicity recently about a widespread ATM fraud known as “card skimming” which has yielded millions of euros in the past year.

However, it now seems that this is a Mickey Mouse operation compared to the real ATM scam that has been going on in recent years.

Yes, it’s a clever scheme known as “bench-marking” which Joe O’Toole correctly predicted would be a stroll to the ATM for teachers.

A recent ESRI study has confirmed the findings of earlier studies, which showed that the public service typically enjoys salaries that average 10-15% more than their private sector counterparts. The ESRI study took into account age, sex, qualifications, responsibility levels etc in arriving at their conclusions.

The ESRI study also confirmed that this is not a new phenomenon, that a significant disparity existed even before the bench-marking exercise was undertaken.

This disparity does not take into account the security of employment and generous pension arrangements enjoyed by public servants. Their private sector counterparts have no such job security and many have little or no employer-funded pension schemes.