Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I want to put the costs on the record of the House. The Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017 will cost the Exchequer an extra €1.32 billion. The cost for 2019 is €372 million. It is important that people recognise this is the cost of the pay deal.

I listened to the debate with interest and I take issue with the idea coming from some Deputies that the public service, the State, is not a good employer, that it no longer represents an attractive career option, that there is a crisis in recruitment and that there is a constant doing down of the public service as an employer. I absolutely reject that. It is counterproductive and it is not based on evidence. The truth is that the public service is a good employer. By any objective measure, the public service offers a comprehensive set of terms and conditions, flexible working arrangements, decent pension provision, fair wages that increase over time and secure employment. While public service is a career choice and people who serve are highly motivated by the public good, the competitiveness of the package on offer can be seen from the strong level of recruitment that the report has highlighted.

A teacher starts at €36,000 in 2018. According to the INTO scale, a teacher who puts in 25 years will be on €64,000. If somebody enters the profession in his or her early 20s or mid-20s, before he or she is 50, he or she can earn €64,000. That represents good value and a good salary.

Let me repeat the recruitment figures. The report revealed a figure of over 60,500. Deputy Shortall may laugh all she wants-----

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