A Niue MP says an attempt to cut the size of the public service appears to have failed, with people taking payments to leave their government jobs being rehired as consultants.
The Premier, Toke Talagi, announced nearly two years ago that public servants would be given a year's salary to go into the private sector and try to establish businesses as the country's tourism industry develops.
But MP Terry Coe says all of the people who have taken up the scheme have returned to the public service as consultants.
"They should be working on the private sector business that they were aiming to set up, which wasn't the consultancy. I mean if they were set up to be a consultant, and that as a private sector one, then yes, I believe it is a good opportunity for them to get into that field, but if they were going into accommodation or other businesses then I feel it has failed."
Niue MP Terry Coe
