Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Lansdowne Road agreement is a collective agreement between the Government and public service employers with the public services committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and other associations representing public servants. The agreement provides for a sustainable adjustment of the existing measures under the financial emergency measures legislation. The terms of the Lansdowne Road agreement have been implemented through the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2015.

The estimated cost of the implementation of the Lansdowne Road agreement is €267 million in 2016, €290 million in 2017, €287 million in 2018 or a cumulative €844 million out to 2018. In addition, the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2015 also makes provision for an adjustment in the rates of reduction applied to public service pensions in payment at an additional cost of €30 million in each of the years 2016 to 2018. I have no plans to revisit these estimates.

A successor collective agreement to the Lansdowne Road agreement needs to be negotiated. I have already outlined, prior to recent events, the timeframe for that. The public service pay commission has been tasked with providing an initial report to the Government on public service remuneration in the context of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Acts 2009 and 2015. The findings of the commission will contribute to and inform the Government's considerations of public service remuneration. It will also inform public service employers in negotiations with staff interests on a successor to the Lansdowne Road agreement. The commission will report in the second quarter of 2017.

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