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

The current framework for pay determination provides that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has statutory responsibility for the remuneration of civil servants, as set out in section 17 of the Civil Service Regulation Act 1956, as amended.

The statutory framework governing remuneration for posts in State-funded bodies is set out in the relevant legislation governing each post. The terms for these posts are determined in line with the relevant statutory framework. Additionally, the pay of public servants is managed under the framework of Building Momentum - A New Public Service Agreement 2021-2022, which was agreed in December 2020. This is a two-year agreement extending the framework of public service agreements, including the Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020, which expired on 31 December 2020.

As the Deputy will be aware, prior to 2009, the remuneration for senior posts was informed by recommendations of the review body on higher remuneration in the public sector. The review body was an independent advisory body established on a non-statutory basis in the 1960s and provided objective, evidence-based assessments to inform pay policy via periodic reviews of the adequacy of remuneration for senior grades. With the onset of the financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, era, the final report of the review body was published in December 2009. As I recently outlined to the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach at a meeting attended by the Deputy, I intend to establish an external review panel to examine the current process for determining the terms and conditions of employment for senior posts, and I expect to bring a proposal to the Government very shortly in that regard. I will write to the committee with the details, as I promised I would do.

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