Letter: The Northern Ireland economy has remained unbalanced towards the public sector and to the detriment of the private sector

Mr RB, a small business employer and taxpayer, is quite right to emphasise the difficulties arising for the private sector from public sector pay parity with Great Britain (‘If we want to have public sector pay parity in Northern Ireland then give the private sector a level playing field with the public,’ January 20).

With negotiations now commencing this will of course put pressure on the Northern Ireland budget. He rightly mentions that the private sector finds it hard to compete with public sector pay awards, higher pensions, benefits and more secure employment due to higher private sector risk factors.

As Esmond Birnie pointed out (‘The question is, what sort of public sector do we want?’ January 18) the NI Executive over the years has made political choices meaning higher public sector pay awards vs reduced public services.

High public sector wages and an unbalanced economy away from private sector creates ‘crowding out’ of talent, funding and economic growth from the private sector and is detrimental to competitiveness.

The Conservative/ UUP link of 2008-12 was a genuine attempt to refocus and rebalance the economy towards the private sector and a higher wage economy under a 25-year plan.

The Ulster Unionist Party broke the link even after some electoral success in 2009 European elections and 15% of the vote in 2010 general election. NI desperately needs a strong centre right voice to espouse these views.

The NI economy has remained uncompetitive and unbalanced towards the public sector and to the detriment of the private sector under DUP/Sinn Fein stewardship 2007-22 .With a new executive in place Northern Ireland needs a strategic balanced approach with a long-term plan for competitiveness and productivity together with an infrastructure plan.

The recent Hendy Review on Union Connectivity recommended a ‘strategic rail review’ . The recent command paper ’Safeguarding the Union’ highlights the need to improve Union connectivity including improved port facilities and road and rail links between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

Johnny Andrews, Bangor, Former Economy Spokesman NI Conservatives