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

I propose to take Questions Nos. 2 and 3 together.

The 10% reductions in starting pay for certain new entrants were introduced in January 2011 as part of the national recovery plan in order to reduce the public service pay bill by the then Government.

The issue of addressing the difference in incremental salary scales between those public servants who entered public service employment since 2011 and those who entered before that date was addressed with the relevant union interests under the provisions of the Haddington Road agreement. From 1 November 2013, pre- and post-2011 pay scales were merged into a single consolidated scale applicable to each grade. Generally, the third point of the 1 November 2013 payscale is equivalent to the first point of the pre-2011 scale.  Guidelines on that are available on my Departments website.

Any further remuneration adjustment for any group of public servants, including new entrants, can be examined under the framework of the Lansdowne Road agreement but must also be considered in the context of the total cost of the agreement, which is €844 million, and the total cost of the outstanding financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, restoration post the Lansdowne Road agreement, which is €1.4 billion.

Acting within these constraints, the agreement has provided the flexibility to address particular sectoral issues such as the restoration of supervision and substitution payments, new entrant payments in the education sector and the restoration of rent allowances to new entrant firefighters.

Indicative estimates of the total cost of moving all staff hired on new entrant scales up two increment points would be over €209 million, excluding any cost in respect of a retrospective payment.

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