Thomas Gould
Question:90. Deputy Thomas Gould asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the status of pay negotiations for the Defence Forces. [34158/22]
View answerTuesday, 4 October 2022
Questions (90)
Written answers
As the Deputy may be aware, my colleague, the Minister for Defence, provided his consent for temporary association membership of ICTU to PDFORRA and RACO which was accepted by the associations on the 24th of May and 2nd of June this year respectively. Accordingly, the Defence Forces representative associations are now encompassed by the Public Services Committee of ICTU for the purposes of public pay negotiations.
The current public service is ‘Building Momentum – A New Public Service Agreement 2021 – 2022’ which was due to expire at the end of 2022. As the Deputy will be aware, discussions recently concluded between the parties to the Agreement - the Public Service Committee of ICTU and certain other non-ICTU affiliated unions and associations. These discussions followed the triggering of the review clause in Building Momentum by public service unions and associations in response to the increases in the cost of living.These were challenging discussions given the impact elevated levels of inflation but also because of the uncertainty in the global economic outlook. The Government’s aim in these talks was to strike the right balance and seek to achieve a deal that is fair and affordable to both taxpayers generally and public service employees. The outcome of these discussions was a set of proposals put forward by the Workplace Relations Commission to extend Building Momentum for a period of 12 months to the end of 2023. Three additional pay adjustments totalling 6.5% are provided for under these proposals over 2022 and 2023.
These are:
An increase in annualised basic salaries for public servants of 3% backdated to 2 February 2022.
- An increase in annualised basic salaries for public servants of 2% on 1 March 2023.
- An increase in annualised basic salaries for public servants of 1.5% or €750, whichever is greater, on 1 October 2023.
The cost of theses proposed pay adjustments under the extension to Building Momentum is estimated to be €1.6 billion spread over three calendar years - 2022, 2023, and 2024.This extension would make Building Momentum a three year pay deal. The extension acknowledges the higher than anticipated rates of inflation that have emerged since 2021 and in particular the impact of cost of living pressures. The existing Building Momentum Agreement provided headline benefits of 3%. In total, including the existing Agreement and the extension, headline benefits over the lifetime of Building Momentum amount to 9.5%, or just over 3% per year. In respect of public servants at lower pay levels, the extended Building Momentum provides for increases of 12.5% over its lifetime, which is an average of just over 4% per annum. It should also be noted that Government has provided a winter cost of living package as part of Budget 2023 which contains temporary, targeted cost of living expenditure supports for individual households and businesses amounting to €2.2 billion which will be implemented in 2022. The terms of the proposals are currently being considered by members of public service unions and representative associations. I understand that, following this process, the Public Services Committee of ICTU will meet in the coming days to consider its position on the proposals. It is the Government's view that an agreement on public service pay at this challenging time will play an important role in underpinning broader stability, minimising industrial unrest and supporting the continued delivery of reform and quality public services.
Question No. 91 answered orally.