Richard Bruton + JLC Reform

[becky]

Am I correct that the public sector get paid double for Sunday work?

If so it seems very unfair that the private sector (JLCs) would be the only ones to take the hit??..ill resist saying "once again"

Yes it's double time on a Sunday. I presume if it applies to private sector, the public sector would be expected to follow.

 

[Protocol]

Everyone agrees that the cost of professional services needs to fall but that has nothing to do with what is being discussed. It is not an either/or situation.

I say start at the top,and work down.

 

[Protocol]

Here are some details of the rates charged by accountants dealing with the Quinn Ins administration. Bear these in mind when calling for lower min wages or lower JLC rates.

http://www.independent.ie/business/...ge-euro17m-for-three-months-work-2662615.html


"Michael McAteer and Paul McCann of accountants Grant Thornton each charged an hourly rate of €475, the court heard. McAteer's fees for the first three months of the year amounted to €168,625, while McCann's amounted to €94,763.

The highest hourly rate charged was €735 per hour for Simon Sheaf, director of Grant Thornton's UK-based actuarial team, the court heard.

He received total fees of £103,000 (€117,000) for work carried out in the first three months of the year.

Patrick Dillon and Dara Kelly, both directors of recovery with Grant Thornton, charged fees of €365 an hour and their total fees amounted to €163,000 and €110,000 respectively.

Michael Neary, a partner in Grant Thornton Corporate Finance, charged €475 an hour and received total fees of more than €110,000.

 

[Purple]

Can someone who operates in the rarefied air of big accountancy tell me if the fees charged are an hourly rate for a team of people or just the dude named on the bill?
If, for example, Grant Thornton had 15 or 20 people backing up their accountants then the costs are high but not exorbitant.

 

[Latrade]

Can someone who operates in the rarefied air of big accountancy tell me if the fees charged are an hourly rate for a team of people or just the dude named on the bill?
If, for example, Grant Thornton had 15 or 20 people backing up their accountants then the costs are high but not exorbitant.

With the large accountancies I've dealt with, the operate similarly to the consultancy services I've worked for in that there are scales of fees. If you want the senior, experienced consultants you pay a premium rate, however, if it's a smaller job and you'd be happy with one of the juniors, it's a lower rate.

Where a team has worked on a project, we would have broken down time, etc into the different rates.

 

[Latrade]

Many small businesses simply cannot afford to pay higher salaries on a Sunday. If they do have to , it could mean having to let someone go or simply not opening on Sunday and losing business.

This is the point people have missed, in too many cases these agreements have meant job losses. Employees in many of those case had expressed an interest in taking pay cuts, but because of the agreement, the employer was as low on the pay as they could and in the end it meant redundancies.

This is still skirting around the main issue though, wages have fallen across the board and they can't feasibly fall any more as it stands. However, people often see this as a typical employer response. The truth is that pay is the only cost that an employer can actually negotiate or look to reduce. Energy costs, Local Authority rates, transport, insurance, rents, these are all at or higher than boom prices, but companies are being shut out from effective negotiations in most cases. These need to be addressed at the same time.