Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The implementation of specific recommendations, awards or adjudications from the Labour Court or other equivalent industrial relations bodies, are matters for the relevant employer or Department, as appropriate, in the first instance. The Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform has responsibility for the terms and conditions of civil servants, as provided for under section 17 of the Civil Service Regulation Act.

As the Deputy may be aware, civil servants do not have access to the Labour Court. Civil Service industrial relations are managed through a mechanism known as the scheme of conciliation and arbitration for the Civil Service. In addition, the Minister for Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform has the central role in delivering public service pay agreements.

Public service pay has been governed by a system of collective agreements since the Croke Park agreement was negotiated in 2010. These collective agreements have helped to ensure that public pay is managed in a sustainable, affordable and orderly manner. The agreements have recognised the importance of stable industrial relations and have supported the maintenance of a well-managed industrial relations environment.

The current public service pay agreement, which all public service unions and associations have signed up to, is Building Momentum - A New Public Service Agreement 2021-2022. This agreement was extended in August 2022 to December 2023. There are a number of features in the Building Momentum agreement that I would like to take the opportunity to highlight. It provides for headline benefits over its lifetime, amounting to 9.5%, which include both general round increases and sectoral bargaining. In respect of public servants at lower pay levels, the extended Building Momentum provides for increases of 12.5% over its lifetime, which is just over 4% per annum. The agreement also sets out a new way to address sectoral issues known as sectoral bargaining. The purpose of the sectoral bargaining process is to deal with outstanding adjudications, commitments, recommendations, awards and claims. An amount equal to 1% of the pay bill was provided for this purpose. The parties agreed that no cost-increasing claims for improvements in pay or conditions of employment can be progressed outside of sectoral bargaining. Parties also committed to the ongoing reform and development of the public service, to industrial peace and to ensuring that problems in respect of matters covered by the agreement were dealt with in an effective way through dispute resolution procedures.

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