James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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174. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the steps he will take to address the low starting pay in the public service; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20250/16]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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Recruitment data from the Public Appointments Service and the overall growth in public service numbers indicates that starting pay rates in the Public Service are, in general, market competitive. Moreover analysis of public service pay band data available to the Department shows that some 93% of all public service staff are on salary points in excess of €25,000 per annum.

Under the terms of the Lansdowne Road Agreement (LRA) the process of restoring public service pay has commenced with the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2015 delivering a three year programme at a full year cost of €844m in 2018. Importantly, the Lansdowne Road Agreement is progressively weighted towards pay restoration for lower paid public servants.  It makes provision for increases in gross pay in 2016 for those on pay up to €31,000 and in 2017 for lower and middle income public servants, namely those on pay up to €65,000. For any public servant whose annualised salary is below €24,001 they benefited from an increase in gross pay of 2.5% from 1 January 2016.  For those on annualised salaries between €24,001 and €31,000  they benefited from an increase in gross pay of 1% from 1 January 2016. For all those on annualised salaries up to €65,000 there will be a flat rate increase in gross pay of €1,000 from 1 September 2017.  Additionally, all public servants will benefit from the Pension Related Deduction (PRD) measures contained in the Lansdowne Road Agreement which will benefit all affected public servants by up to €733 in 2016 and €1,000 in 2017.  However, through the operation of the tax code, lower paid public servants will benefit proportionately more from the PRD measures.

The combined impact of these measures, for example, on a public servant on a salary of €25,000 will be an additional €1 ,875 over the duration of the Agreement a 7.5% increase. 

The Agreement is also flexible enough to allow for the concerns of recent recruits to the public service to be addressed in a negotiated way and in return for work place reform to drive greater productivity in the public service, as has already been agreed with representative bodies of one group of public servants.

The Programme for Government also states that the Government will establish a Public Service Pay Commission to examine pay levels across the public service including any issues relating to new entrants' pay.  The precise structure of such a commission and the technical aspects as to how it will  operate have yet to be decided upon and will require broad consultation, including engagement with staff representatives as was committed to in the Lansdowne Road Agreement.