Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Pay increases for all public servants kicked in in October and have been backdated to February. They have been paid to the vast majority of public servants but I acknowledge that has not been the case in large parts of our health service. I met with the unions during the week. I met the head of the INMO, Ms Phil Ni Sheaghdha, and the head of ICTU and they raised this issue. We agree that it is not acceptable that people who work in our health service did not get their pay increase at the same time as civil servants, teachers, gardaí and everyone else so we are working on that. The Deputy knows that payroll systems in the health service do not operate the way they should. It is our responsibility to fix that and we are working on that. We can guarantee people that they will get that payment, even if it is late.

Regarding the Deputy's proposals, the rent tax credit will be a month's rent back in renters' pockets in many cases.

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