The assertion by Keith Redmond (Post, 13 December) that public servants receive 25% higher salaries than others is open to serious debate. The ESRI report that reached this conclusion did so by comparing members of the gardaí with security guards in shopping centres, and teachers with part-time staff in grind schools who do a totally different job. These are not like-for-like comparisons. In fact, the only independent review which examined and compared public- and private-sector jobs on a like-for-like basis was the 2008 benchmarking report which found that "there is little or no public-service premium, if comparison is made with private-sector employees in large establishments" which the report notes "accounts for a significant majority of public-sector workers".

Kevin P McCarthy,

The Medowlands,

Ardteegalvin,

Killarney, Co Kerry