Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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390. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the cost of bringing all public service workers that are currently earning below the new living wage, in line with the current rate. [39207/25]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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The current living wage, as set out by the Living Wage Technical Group, is €14.75 per hour. In relation to the civil service, for which my Department holds detailed data, €14.75 based on the civil service 35 hour standard net working week equates to an annual salary of approximately €26,938. Detailed data on civil service staff indicates that, on a full time equivalent basis, there are no staff in the civil service on salary points less than this. This is based on data from June 2025, which does not take account of the increase of 1% to be implemented on 1 August 2025 under Public Service Agreement 2024 - 2026.

The current public service agreement is Public Service Agreement 2024-2026. In total, the Agreement provides for increases of 10.25% over a two and a half year period. This is made up of general round increases totalling 9.25%, as well as a provision for a Local Bargaining mechanism equivalent to 1% of the basic pay cost. Over the lifetime of the agreement, the lowest paid public servants will see benefits of up to 17.3%, inclusive of the local bargaining provision.

The public service information sought in this request would require detailed data on the position of staff on each salary scale across the public service and details of the standard working hours per week for each individual grade. This data is not held in my Department.