Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 3 October 2023
277. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform the full-year cost of ensuring that every public sector worker is paid a minimum of €17 per hour; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42625/23]
View answerIn relation to the civil service, for which my Department holds detailed data, the suggested minimum wage at €17 per hour based on the civil service 35 hour standard net working week equates to an annual salary of approximately €31,047. Detailed data on civil service staff indicates that approximately 15% of staff (FTE) in the civil service are on salary points less than this.
Those currently on an annual salary of less than €31,047 may be receiving remuneration in excess of the suggested living wage through additional premium payments in respect of shift work or atypical working hours.
The current public service agreement is Building Momentum - A New Public Service Agreement 2021-2023. The pay measures in the extended agreement amount to total headline adjustments of 9.5% over the lifetime of the Agreement. The extended Agreement is weighted towards those at lower incomes, with increases of up to 12.5% for the lowest paid public servants. All those earning less than €31,047 per annum would be in receipt of increases in excess of the headline benefits.
It should be noted that the latest detailed data held by my Department relates to August 2023 and as such does not reflect the increases of 1.5% or €750 provided for on 1 October 2023 under Building Momentum. This increase may bring some of these staff above the annual salary of €31,047.
The public service information sought in this request would require detailed data on the position of staff on each salary scale across the public service and details of the standard working hours per week for each individual grade. This data is not held in my Department.
