Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 May 2018
1. Deputy Barry Cowen asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the status of the negotiations with regard to pay equalisation; the timeline for negotiations to conclude; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [21727/18]
View answerAs the Minister knows, in our confidence and supply arrangement we insisted on a public pay commission to respond with recommendations following analysis of costs associated with pay equalisation, especially for new entrants since 2011. We recognise that the Government has finally committed to a pathway to deal with this process. It is a matter for the Minister to consider also the recommendations of the commission on issues and difficulties with recruitment and retention of staff, particularly in the health service, health consultants and the Air Corps. When does the Minister expect the commission to conclude its work? When will he be able to make recommendations to the Cabinet on foot of that, notwithstanding the issues relating to prudence over the associated economic cost? Now that the cost has been established, will the process be put in place?
I thank the Deputy for the question. I look forward to working with him during what I am sure will be a very exciting period in the run-up to many things in the coming months.
The Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020, provided that an examination of remaining salary scale issues in respect of those recruited after January 2011 at entry grades would be undertaken within 12 months of the commencement of the agreement. Additionally, as the Deputy is aware, the Government accepted an amendment to section 11 of the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017, that within three months of the passing of the Act, I would prepare and lay before the Oireachtas a report on the cost of and a plan to deal with pay equalisation for new entrants to the public service. This was a significant body of work delivered through the Irish Government Economic Evaluation Service, which collected, collated and examined the data, and provided detailed point-in-time costs associated with the measure.
I submitted a report to the Oireachtas on 16 March. It showed that there has been strong recruitment since 2011 to the 237 recruitment grades across the public service, with more than 60,500 new entrants hired, representing 19% of the public service. This includes more than 16,000 teachers, nearly 5,000 special needs assistants and almost 10,000 nurses.
Graduates entering the public service today do so on a competitive salary. For example, a teacher recruited in 2018 will start on just under €36,000. This will rise under the current public service stability agreement to nearly €38,000 by 2020. Across the labour market as a whole, the average starting salary for graduates is €28,554, with 40% earning less than €25,000.
Discussions on this issue with public service trade unions and representative associations commenced in October, with a further meeting on 27 April. Further engagement is being arranged for early June as the parties continue to work through the various aspects of this issue.
I thank the Minister for his good wishes. I apologise for my voice this morning. Before the Tánaiste, Deputy Coveney, or anybody else starts tweeting, I wish to point out I have a sore throat. I ask the Minister to bear with me.
I thank the Minister for his answer. Notwithstanding the catastrophic scandal involving the HSE, CervicalCheck and the Department of Health, it was refreshing to hear some of the victims of that scandal speak highly about the nursing and other front-line staff in their dealings with them in very trying circumstances in recent times.
I raised this issue with the Minister last week during Questions on Promised Legislation. We are into the first year of the pay deal to which the Minister referred. There is an understanding on the part of the INMO, for example, that the recommendations of the pay commission on difficulties with recruitment and retention in its field would be adopted by Government and would kick in during the second year of the three-year deal. I am led to believe that has been clarified in correspondence from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. Will the Minister confirm that is the case? Will he confirm that nurses, midwives, hospital consultants and personnel in the Air Corps, as part of the recommendations of the pay commission in response to the challenge that has been placed upon them, will be making recommendations to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and that Government will have a responsibility under the pay agreement signed and agreed last year for implementation in year two of the three-year deal?
The Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020 provides for €887 million in additional pay restoration and increases. The agreement makes clear that the responsibilities that are upon me are to set up the public service pay commission, which was set up before the agreement - I did that - and to support the pay commission in submitting a report to Government during the second quarter. I understand it will report towards the end of June and then into early July. The subsequent Government response will be the subject of negotiation between the Government and representative bodies.
If the Deputy asks me to commit that a particular issue be dealt with in advance of engagement on the matter, all of the other bodies with concerns or needs over the pay agreement will ask why I am not prioritising them. I am happy to commit to the terms of the public service stability agreement negotiation being implemented by me.
Work is under way on pay equality, an issue on which I have answered the Deputy. We are dealing with the demands for so-called pay equality by those in the representative bodies, while parallel work is under way by the Public Service Pay Commission on recruitment within the health service.
I acknowledge the ongoing negotiations on the inequality issue and the Government's commitment to resolving it. I accept that there is a pathway for it to be carried through. However, the pay commission was charged with an initial and primary responsibility which was related to recruitment and retention issues and the associated difficulties in the health service. There is an acknowledgement on the part of the Government that this is its job of work. There was a further acknowledgment in the Minister's reply that he would look at the recommendations that emanated from it and enter into discussions on them in good faith thereafter. That is merely what we are seeking at this juncture. We acknowledge, of course, the constraints and the fiscal rules which have to be adhered to. As we said during the negotiations which led to the confidence and supply arrangement, however, it is imperative that the commission be provided with the terms of reference to which we have alluded, namely, that there are issues surrounding recruitment and retention. The Government must acknowledge the need for a pathway to deal with these issues, notwithstanding the difficulties which may emerge by virtue of the difference of opinion on the agreement in place, as I have outlined, for the INMO.
I will not comment on any potential agreement or disagreement. We have an agreement that is laid out in text and the Government and I are honouring everything laid out in it. Work is under way on the issue of new entrant pay and I have updated the House on some key points in that regard. The Public Service Pay Commission is engaged on the issue in the context of recruitment and retention within the health service. I will deal with all of the issues that emerge from both processes when they are complete. However, I emphasise to the House that we cannot say, on the one hand, that we need to ensure the public finances are managed in a stable way and that we must not repeat the mistakes of the past, while telling ourselves, on the other, that we can meet every individual demand. We will not be able to meet the needs of every group with which we are engaging. We have a public service pay agreement for three years and it is in year one. We are committed to engaging with everyone in good faith, but if we are saying we need to keep the public finances stable and ensure we can afford to meet the commitments we have made, we have to understand there are responsibilities which come with that. I am committed to discharging those responsibilities, as I am sure the Deputy is too.
