Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. It is fair to point out that the emphasis of the restoration process to date has been on low and middle-income earners within the public service. By 1 October, people earning up to €70,000 will have had their pay fully restored. That is a significant milestone. There are further measures in the FEMPI Acts, to which I have alluded. A process is set out in the legislation with regard to the unwinding of the remainder of the FEMPI provisions. These will be considered in due course. As I have highlighted, under the current Act, by the end of this year I have to signal a date by which the public service pension reductions will be reversed. There is also a schedule in place so that, by July 2021 and July 2022, restoration will be complete for higher-earning public servants. All of those matters remain under consideration but for now the priority is to see out the current public pay deal and, it is hoped, to negotiate a new one.

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