asked the Minister for Finance the estimated gross additional cost in 1989 to the Exchequer of (a) pay increases under the Programme for National Recovery (b) increments and (c) special pay awards in the public service.
Written Answers. - Public Service Pay.
40.
The estimated costs in 1989 are as follows: (a) Public Service Pay Agreement (second general increase) £70 million; (b) increments £28 million; (c) special pay awards in the Public Service £15 million. The figures shown reflect the estimated likely impact of the Government's policy on reducing the numbers employed in the public service.
The figure of £15 million at (c) represents, in the main, the carryover cost of special pay awards being implemented under Clause 3.2 of the 1986 Public Service Pay Agreement, the final phase of which is due to be paid on 1 July 1988.
The current Public Service Pay Agreement provides for the payment, from 1 July 1989, of 40 per cent of special pay increases currently being processed. It also provides that if the Government consider that these payments would put at risk the central objectives underlying the Programme for National Recovery, they shall consult with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions on the matter with the view to arriving at a mutually acceptable solution.
It would be inappropriate at this stage to speculate as to the likely cost of the Exchequer of these claims, which are at various stages of processing. For this reason the potential cost of these increases in 1989 has not been included in the reply to (c) of the Deputy's question.