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

I thank all the Members who participated in the debate on this Bill on Second Stage and also on Committee Stage recently. I thank Deputies Bríd Smith and Michael Healy-Rae for their contributions as well.

In essence, this Bill is a key enabler for the new public service pay agreement, Building Momentum, and allows for a range of reforming pay matters including implementation of aspects of Sláintecare. This public service pay deal, which has been voted on and ratified by the public service unions, recognises the value of the work of our public servants during the pandemic and provides for affordable increases with pay adjustments weighted towards those on lower incomes. The agreement also sets out an important reform agenda. Each sector will produce and publish reform plans that will demonstrate delivery each year. Payment of a 1% sectoral fund will be conditional on the delivery of actual reforms. As I have said previously, the Bill will enable progress on a range of pay reform matters including Sláintecare and the establishment of a public-only consultant contract which is a key provision in the Government's plans for the reform of the health service. Colleagues have touched on the contents of Building Momentum, the public service pay deal. While it provides for the 1% general round pay increase later this year and a further 1% next year, there is also the 1% provided for sectoral bargaining fund.

That is a new and innovative way of dealing with what are, in some cases, long-standing outstanding matters relating to pay and allowances. We are also putting in place a process that would seek to address the Haddington Road agreement hours, and we are providing money to make a tangible start on the process next year. I welcome all those elements.

I will answer Deputy Smith's point, although I am not entirely clear on whether she is advocating for the FEMPI Acts to be rescinded in their entirety. Of course, if we did that, all the remaining restoration for higher-earning public servants would have to be provided immediately. The Acts must continue in force because they represent the legal basis for the benefits of the public service agreements from 2013 to 2020 and for pay restoration to continue up to 1 July 2022. They also contain important definitions of public servants, public service bodies, ministerial controls on pay and terms and conditions and provision for the additional superannuation contribution, for example. These are just some of the reasons the Acts remain in place.

As colleagues will be aware, we have now achieved full restoration for public servants earning up to €70,000 and there is a timetable laid out for the restoration beyond that. The agreement being enabled through the passage of this legislation provides certainty on the public service pay bill until the end of next year. It also provides moderate and affordable pay increases over the next year and a half or so weighted in particular to public servants at the lower end of the pay scale. I am happy to commend the Bill to the House and I very much welcome the support of colleagues getting the Bill to this point.

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