Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Amendments Nos. 3, 6 and 7 propose that no pay rises provided for in this legislation will serve to increase the salaries of public servants on salaries in excess of €65,000 or those of public servants on annual salaries in excess of €100,000. I will give the committee some background to this. The whole Haddington Road agreement architecture meant pay cuts were progressive and ranged from 5.5% to 10% over increasing remuneration bands. It was constructed so that the biggest cuts were taken by those on the highest pay. When we negotiated the Haddington Road agreement in 2013, we built in - as set out in the Bill before the committee - proposals for the restoration of pay. That was part of the agreement and was voted upon by public sector unions. I intend to respect the agreement, as I have said I would do for every part of it.

For those on salaries in excess of €65,000 but under €110,000, there should be two annualised payments as provided for in the agreement. For those earning in excess of that, for the portion of their pay that was reduced by the third cut, it would happen in three payments and be extended out to 2019. That was a bone of contention in the negotiations because people felt it should have been restored within the two tranches. However, I felt it would be better if it took longer for those on higher pay to have that portion of their remuneration restored.

Many public servants - they are not enormous in number but they are very important public servants - are paid in excess of €65,000 or in excess of €100,000. These people are mostly working within the HSE and if I accepted Deputy's proposal - that consultant doctors should be excluded from the provisions of this Bill - it would not be conducive to ensuring a functioning health service. That would be a mistake. There are middle-ranking and senior gardaí, senior administrators and others who would be impacted upon by the Deputy's proposals and I do not think that would be appropriate. Ultimately, all the pay cuts that were imposed are subject to-----