Patricia Ryan
Question:157. Deputy Patricia Ryan asked the Minister for Justice her plans to address the pay and conditions concerns of prison officers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26578/22]
View answerWednesday, 25 May 2022
Questions (157)
Written answers
As you are aware my colleague Minister McGrath leads on national pay policy and the long standing approach has been to negotiate public pay deals centrally and collectively. This ensures that pay costs are managed in a sustainable and orderly way and in a climate of industrial peace.
As the Deputy will be aware, the current public service agreement, Building Momentum, is a two year Agreement and runs to the end of 2022.
On 14 March 2022, ICTU advised the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform of their intention to seek a review of Building Momentum in accordance with Section 5.7 of the Agreement which states:
“The parties affirm that public service pay and pensions and any related issues shall not be revisited over the lifetime of this Agreement, save where the assumptions underlying this Agreement need to be revisited. In such circumstances, the parties commit to prior engagement.”
Having discussed the matter with Government, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform directed his officials to arrange to enter into exploratory discussions with Public Service Unions and representative staff associations in relation to an agreed way forward on public service pay issues.
These will be challenging discussions against a very difficult backdrop. Discussions must be cognisant of the multiple challenges that the country is currently facing including the impact of rising inflation and the conflict in the Ukraine.
However, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform has advised that he believes that there is scope for all Parties to engage constructively in a way forward that is reasonable and fair to both public servants and the taxpayer. As always, the Government will engage in good faith to reach a mutually acceptable outcome in any discussions.