Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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Question 69: To ask the Minister for Finance the amount a proposed measure (details supplied) relating to the implementation of the pay awards in the recent transitional agreement of Towards 2016 would save. [43342/08]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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As the Deputy is aware, the Review and Transitional Agreement 2008-2009 provides for a pay pause of 11 months in the public service from the expiry of the first phase of the first module of Towards 2016 on 30 September 2008 to 31 August 2009. The estimated savings from this pay pause are €175m in 2008 and €470m in 2009. If the pay pause were to be extended by another month there would be an additional saving across the public service of about €55m in 2009. This saving would be attributable entirely to extension of the pay pause to cover the month of September 2009.

As regards increments, it is important to note that year-on-year increases in allocations would not normally be granted for these. Accordingly, there is no increased provision for increments in the pay bill in 2008 and no increased provision will be made in 2009 either. In the normal way, the overall cost of increments for staff on incremental scales should be offset by reductions in cost arising from retirements or other movements by staff. It is difficult, therefore, to estimate the cost of increments. However, if all increments due for payment in the public service in 2009 were not to be paid, the saving would be somewhere in the region of €250m for a full year. The cost attributable to the first nine months would be three quarters of this figure.