Written answers

Tuesday, 24 May 2016

Department of Public Expenditure and Reform

Public Sector Pay

Photo of David CullinaneDavid Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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368. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the number of additional unpaid hours which have been provided by civil and public servants under all public sector collective agreements since 2009; the cost of paying workers for these hours; the cost of bringing all post-2011 Civil Service and public service entrants to pre-2011 pay grades; the details of the €2.2 billion in savings from the collective agreements, by pay, levies, productivity measures and year, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11483/16]

Photo of Paschal DonohoePaschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Haddington Road Agreement provided for a range of productivity measures including an increase in the standard working hours of public servants for no extra remuneration. Through its provisions, the Agreement is delivering an unprecedented structural increase of almost 15 million additional working hours annually in the productivity of the Public Service. That productivity is contributing to the maintenance of our public services and is a core enabler for a sustainable reduction in the cost of the public service pay bill.  These extra hours were negotiated and implemented by sector and grade and had different impacts on individual public servants depending on existing hours of work. The overarching objective of the additional hours are to reduce the requirement for paid overtime hours and agency costs; to allow management to maintain services against the backdrop of reduced staff numbers; and to facilitate amendments to the supervision and substitution allowance in the education sector. Under the terms of the Agreement some €131 million in paybill savings were attributed to increased working hours due to reduced overtime, reduced hiring of Agency staff and some €125 million in the Education Sector in relation to Supervision and Substitution.

The issue of addressing the difference in incremental salary scales between those public servants, who entered public service employment since 2011 and those who entered before that date was addressed with the relevant union interests under the provisions of the Haddington Road Agreement (HRA).

During the period 2008 to 2014 the Exchequer pay bill reduced from a peak of €17.5 billion gross to €13.8 billion (net of PRD), a reduction of €3.7 billion.  This reduction was achieved primarily through the reductions applied under the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) Acts, supported by a reduction in the number of serving public servants together with other cost reduction and productivity measures. From the period 2009 to 2013 the FEMPI Acts introduced pay reduction measures. These measures, together with the Public Service Pension Reduction implemented in January 2011, are estimated to have resulted in over €2.2bn in direct reductions in public service remuneration and pensions. Details of the €2.2bn are contained in the 2015 Annual Review of the FEMPI legislation which is available on my Department's website .

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