Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

104. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform further to Parliamentary Question No. 17 of 6 November 2014, his views on the need to investigate low paid public sector workers' wages by a low pay commission; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [47836/14]

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

There is a commitment in the Statement of Government Priorities 2014-2016 to establish a Low Pay Commission (LPC) on a statutory basis as an independent body to make annual recommendations to the Government about the appropriate level of the minimum wage and related matters. The Minister for Business and Employment, Mr. Ged Nash, T.D., is currently developing proposals to implement this commitment and determine the role and mandate of the LPC which will be statutorily independent in the performance of its functions.

In relation to pay in the public service the pay and pension reductions imposed on public servants through the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Acts 2009-2013 were progressively structured. Those on lower incomes were least affected, with the highest reductions imposed on the highest paid. The most recent pay reduction effected by the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2013, was confined to those public servants on annual salaries of €65,000 or more only; the core pay of almost 87% of public servants at low and midranking pay levels was not impacted by this pay reduction.

In seeking the most recent savings and reductions from the public service pay and pensions' bill, public service employers and trade unions entered into negotiations and concluded a collective agreement, the Haddington Road Agreement (HRA). This three year Agreement, effective from July 2013, built upon and reaffirmed the existing overall commitments in the Public Service Agreement (Croke Park Agreement) including those in relation to lower paid public servants and sets the terms of pay in the public service until 2016. As the public service unions have indicated they intend to submit a pay claim in the new year for all public servants, any such pay claim in respect of public servants will have to be considered in the context of both the emergency legislation and the HRA. I have stated that if such a pay claim is submitted the Government will be required to consider it.

It should also be noted that under the Haddington Road Agreement, and subsequently legislated for in the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2013, the rate of PRD on the €15,000 to €20,000 band of pay received in a year was reduced from 5% to 2.5% on 1 January 2014. This rate cut is worth €125 annually in gross terms to most public servants, with those taxed at the standard rate enjoying the greater gain in terms of take-home pay boost.