asked the Minister for the Public Service if, in view of the recent developments in pay, the Government will now, as a matter of urgency, outline clearly and concisely its policy on pay in the public and private sectors.
Written Answers. - Pay Policy.
404.
So far as public service pay is concerned, the Government's policy has been to achieve, by agreement, arrangements for pay development which would take into account, on the one hand, the serious economic and financial problems facing the country and, on the other hand, the need to meet, in some degree, legitimate claims by public servants for an increase in pay. The proposals which the unions' negotiating team has agreed to take back for decision to the Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions represent the Government's view of how far it can go to reconcile those two interests. Briefly the proposals would involve a 15-month agreement consisting of a pay pause of six months, a first phase increase of 4.75 per cent for five months and a second phase increase of 3.25 per cent for four months. They also provide for the phasing in of special increases in respect of which there were commitments under the last agreement as revised and for the application of phasing to other special increases, including the introduction in most cases of an interval of not less than three years between such special increases. They also include a provision for giving special recognition to certain categories of low paid workers.
So far as other employments are concerned I would hope that the lead given in the draft proposals will help to set the tone for the level of settlement that emerges from now on in both public and private sector.