Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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195. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the way in which the 1:12 ratio of average annual earnings in 2014, set out in table 5.3 of the report of the Public Service Pay Commission, was calculated; and if the pay of enlisted ranks in the Defence Forces was included as part of the calculations. [46677/18]

Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)
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The Public Service Pay Commission is an independent body which published its first report in May 2017, to provide inputs on how the unwinding of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest legislation 2009-2015 should proceed.

As noted in the report, the source for the data used in Table 5.3 of the Public Service Pay Commission’s May 2017 report is Eurostat’s Structure of Earnings Survey. National Metadata in relation to Ireland for this indicator is provided to Eurostat from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

The Public Administration and Defence category is a statistical classification, which forms the NACE Sector O. As confirmed by the CSO, the enlisted ranks of the Defence Forces are included in this statistical grouping.

Table 5.3 shows the ratio of gross earnings in three sectors which are mostly made up of public sector employees compared to gross earnings in the general economy, across 17 countries. The 1.12 ratio indicates that, in 2014, earnings in the Public Administration and Defence sector were 12% higher than average annual earnings in Ireland.

The Report itself provides for a detailed illustration of the calculation steps by the Commission in Table 5.3, in Appendix F of the Report.