Government ‘pleased’ at unions’ acceptance of revised public pay deal

The Government has welcomed the announcement that unions have voted overwhelmingly to accept the revised public service pay deal that commits to a phased 6.5% pay increase.

All affiliated unions taking part in the ballot have voted in favour of the proposals, with the Public Service Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) officially ratifying the deal on Friday.

Once implemented, the deal will see pay increases of 3% with effect from February 2 2022, 2% from March 1 2023 and 1.5% or 750 euro, whichever is greater, from October 1 2023.

This is in addition to 1% or 500 euro, whichever is greater, due at the beginning of this month.

Talks to revise the Building Momentum pay deal affecting around 370,000 full-time staff, were triggered in light of an inflation rate of 8% predicted for this year.

After intensive negotiations between the Government and unions, brokered by the Workplace Relations Commission, a staggered pay increase of 6.5% was recommended over the course of 18 months.

The measures extend the current Building Momentum public service pay agreement to the end of 2023, with Ictu president Kevin Callinan said that he expected pay negotiations to resume next year.

“Unions do expect to be back in negotiations next year to secure pay terms beyond the lifetime of the current agreement, which will expire at the end of 2023, and unions will of course continue to closely monitor living costs and income pressures.”

The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath welcomed the ratification of the deal.

Mr McGrath said he believed the deal achieved a balance between reflecting the impact of inflation while also underpinning the public finances during “very difficult times”.

“I am very pleased to see the strong endorsement across the full spectrum of public service unions for the changes to the pay deal which we agreed back in September.

“A very wide range of public servants will benefit from these increases including over 42,000 nursing and midwifery staff, 12,000 doctors, consultants and surgeons, 71,000 teachers, 18,000 special needs assistants and 14,000 gardai.”

Unions said the minimum payment of 750 euro a year from next October means the package would be worth an extra 8% to a worker earning 25,000 euro a year and 7% to a person on 37,500 euro a year.

He said that he was “pleased” about the benefits it would offer to lower paid staff, pointing out that an employee on a salary of 25,000 euro will receive an increase of 11.2% over two years.

“I will be bringing a memo to Government next week to advise my colleagues of the endorsement of the extension to the pay deal.

“This will allow for the various circulars to be prepared for local HR units facilitating the adjustment of pay scales.

“The public service has demonstrated its ability to support the people of Ireland in difficult circumstances, and the continued delivery of quality public services will be vital in the current climate.

“This extension to the agreement means that we retain in the future the key reform enabling provisions from the Covid period and I believe this will lead to a more efficient and responsive public service.”