Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 19 October 2016
25. Deputy Bríd Smith asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if any account was taken in preparing his Budget Statement of the need for wage increases among public service workers outside of the already planned unwinding of financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, provisions by his Department. [30933/16]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs we have only three minutes remaining, I ask the Deputy to forgo her introduction of the question to allow more time for supplementary questions and answers.
No provision was made in budget 2017 for additional pay restoration to public servants, beyond the commitments already entered into under the Lansdowne Road agreement. Budget 2017 allocated €290 million for the implementation of the agreement. An additional €10 million was allocated to the Department of Education and Skills for the implementation of a revised salary scale for new-entrant teachers, as recently agreed with teaching unions through the mechanism of the Lansdowne Road agreement.
However, the public service pay bill is a function of both pay rates and numbers and, in response to the critical need to support front-line service delivery, the estimate for gross pay in 2017 in the budget is €16.3 billion, which is €660 million more than the 2016 revised allocation of €15.7 billion. This includes the provision made for the implementation of the Lansdowne Road agreement in 2017 and provision for the appointment of some 6,100 additional staff in 2017.
As our time is limited, I will give way to Deputy Smith so that she has time to put her supplementary questions.
That was an interesting answer to a question I did not get to introduce. The Minister has had to answer a lot of questions today about the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland and the Garda Síochána unions that are outside the Lansdowne Road agreement. It is my understanding that olive branches are being offered to Garda representatives and some attempts are being made to deal with the concerns of teachers who did not sign up to the agreement. When the Minister says no provision has been made for any extra payment for workers outside the agreement, it begs the question of why he is bothering to talk to them at all. If they agree to come into the tent and say "Yes, Sir; No, Sir; three bags full, Sir", what will happen then? What is the plan if members of ASTI accept all the terms of the Lansdowne Road agreement and agree to continue to do supervisory duties for nothing, as they did until 30 June under the Haddington Road agreement, or if gardaí agree to make some concessions? According to the Minister, there is no extra money to provide for that eventuality.
The fundamental point remains that the Government was well aware there were groups of workers who remained outside the Lansdowne Road agreement and it should have made provision to deal with that. Every trade union is entitled to a free vote on provisions under a certain deal. Teachers have given 36 hours of work for free per year as per the Haddington Road arrangements and are now being told by the Government they will be isolated and made an example of. How will the Minister deal with that? Ultimately, he will have to sit down and speak to the teachers.
Of course I recognise the right of any trade union to form a view on these matters and vote accordingly on any proposal that is put in front of members. However, in the Deputy's analysis she makes no reference to all of those unions that are inside the Lansdowne Road agreement. What about the 20 plus unions that are on side and the more than 250,000 civil and public servants they represent? We must honour our obligations to them, which is what we have done in the budget. While I understand the Deputy's need to focus on people who are outside the agreement, we also must acknowledge those who voted to be inside the agreement. That agreement has demonstrated our capacity to fund and deliver responses to issues raised by members of unions. It enabled us to agree a proposal with the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, the Teachers Union of Ireland and the Irish National Teachers Organisation in regard to new-entrant pay. It helped us to devise a proposal on rent allowance for new entrants to An Garda Síochána.
My question has absolutely nothing to do with any need of mine to focus on a particular issue. However, if I wanted to ask a question about those inside the Lansdowne Road agreement, I would do so.
The Deputy has no interest in asking about that.
I asked the Minister how he proposes to make provision for those workers who are outside the agreement. He acknowledges the right of every trade union to vote according to its beliefs. I remind the Minister that members of TUI and INTO did not get to ballot on the new arrangements. It was the leadership of those unions which accepted the deal, not the membership. In the case of the workers to whom I am referring, they clearly rejected the constraints of the Lansdowne Road agreement and, as a result, we are facing strikes by teachers and gardaí. The Minister will have to sit down with the unions concerned and resolve the issues at some point. He is saying there is no provision in the budget to do so. I am asking why he should bother talking to those workers if there is no provision to address the issues they have with the agreement.
Deputy Paul Murphy said in the House earlier that it is the right thing that strike action should take place.
The Minister is supposed to be replying to my question.
I am responding to the question the Deputy put to me in respect of wage restoration. What is absent in any part of the view she has put forward today is a recognition that large numbers of civil and public servants are inside the Lansdowne Road agreement.
I did not ask about those who are inside the agreement. My question relates specifically to those who are outside it.
Of course the Deputy has no interest in acknowledging any kind of progress, just as she has no interest in recognising the huge amount of engagement that has taken place with the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland, the Garda Representative Association and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors. That engagement will continue as we seek to put in place an agreement that is affordable for all. We will do our best to ensure we avoid the type of disruption none of us wants to see.
The Minister has no interest in answering the question I asked him.
