David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein)
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18. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the cost to revert to a single tier pay structure across the public sector; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10498/17]

Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance)
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21. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform his Department's progress in bringing to an end the two tier pay system that exists across the public service to the detriment of more recent entrants to the public service. [10626/17]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 18 and 21 together.

The 10% reductions in starting pay for certain new entrants were introduced in January 2011 as part of the National Recovery Plan in order to reduce the Public Service Pay Bill by the then Government and as a response to the serious fiscal position presenting at that time.

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). From 1 November 2013 pre and post-2011 pay scales were merged into a single consolidated scale applicable to each grade. Generally, the third point of 1 November 2013 payscale is equivalent to the first point of scale of the pre 2011 scale.  Guidelines in relation to the merging of the scales are available on my Departments website www.per.gov.ie/en/haddington-road-agreement/.

There are various factors which impacted on the pay scale and point of scale under which employees were recruited in the period from January 2011 such as prior public service experience and incremental credit agreements.  Detailed costings would require collation and estimation on an individual sector level, based on detailed data on the position of staff on each salary scale across the public service for each individual grade.

Any further remuneration adjustment, for any group of public servants including new entrants, can be examined under the framework of the Lansdowne Road Agreement but must also be considered in the context of the total cost of the agreement (€844m) and the total cost of the outstanding FEMPI restoration post Lansdowne Road (€1.4bn).

Acting within these constraints, the Agreement has provided the flexability 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.