Written answers

Thursday, 24 November 2016

Department of Public Expenditure and Reform

Public Sector Pay

Photo of Paul MurphyPaul Murphy (Dublin South West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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19. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his views on the demands by trade unions for increased pay; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36541/16]

Photo of Ruth CoppingerRuth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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30. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his views on the demands by the trade union movement for increased pay and an end to pay inequality; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36540/16]

Photo of Tommy BroughanTommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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31. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the way in which he is managing the current public sector industrial relations environment; his plans to address the concerns of unequal pay for unequal work in addition to addressing pay restoration before the expiration of the Lansdowne Road agreement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36365/16]

Photo of Paschal DonohoePaschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 19, 30 and 31 together.

The Government remains committed to the Lansdowne Road Agreement (LRA) as the Collective Agreement in place with the Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) and other associations representing public servants. The Agreement provides for sustainable pay increases through adjustment of the existing measures under the Financial Emergency (FEMPI) measures legislation.  The estimated cost of the implementation of the LRA is €267m in 2016, €290m in 2017, €287m in 2018 or a cumulative €844m out to 2018. This represents a considerable investment by the Government in negotiated pay increases for public servants.  Any further adjustment measures underr FEMPI  will be collectively negotiated with the relevant union interests at the appropriate time and will have to be sustainable and affordable.   

The 10% reductions in starting pay for certain new entrants were introduced by the then Government in January 2011 as part of the National Recovery Plan in order to reduce the Public Service Pay Bill. Terms and conditions of employment for public servants are also set by reference to legislation including the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Acts and through negotiation and agreement under Collective Agreements such as the Haddington Road Agreement (HRA) and the Lansdowne Ro ad Agreement (LRA). 

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. Any further consideration of remuneration adjustment for any group of public servants, including issues relating to more recently recruited public servants, fall to be examined within the provisions of the Lansdowne Road Agreement.  The Agreement provides the framework and is flexible enough to address particular sectoral issues such as the restoration of supervision and substitution payments and new entrant payments in the Education Sector and the restoration of rent allowances to new entrant firefighters and members of An Garda Síochána.

Photo of Richard Boyd BarrettRichard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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23. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if he will provide a commitment to full restoration of pay to public sector workers that experienced pay reductions of up to 20% between 2008 and 2011; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36530/16]

Photo of Paschal DonohoePaschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware I am obliged under the legislation to undertake an Annual Review of the operation and effectiveness of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Acts (FEMPI) which is laid before the Oireachtas by the end of June each year.

In my last review of the necessity for the continuing application of the measures provided for under the Acts, my decision was informed by the instability in the international economy (including risks posed by Brexit), the still fragile nature of our economic recovery, the need to protect hard won competitiveness gains, the high level of debt, the continuing fiscal deficit, the obligation to comply with the Stability and Growth Pact, and the need to balance competing demands within the available fiscal space. To date none of these factors have lessened appreciably, while the risks of international economy instability have, if anything, increased.

In this context the Lansdowne Road Agreement (LRA), which provides a negotiated pathway for public service pay increases through a phased partial unwinding of the FEMPI measures at a full year cost of  €844m in 2018, represents a considerable investment in public service remuneration. A comprehensive Collective Agreement of this kind allows for strong fiscal planning, with budget allocations ring-fenced within multi-annual expenditure ceilings and pay increases taking an appropriate share of available fiscal space.  This phased and sustainable programme of pay increases underpins the fiscal targets in Budget 2017 and our international commitments to have a prudent fiscal policy under the Stability and Growth Pact. Any further adjustments in the application of the FEMPI measures will be negotiated with public service staff representatives through a further Collective Agreement that is sustainable and affordable at the appropriate time.

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