I have of course kept my Government and Cabinet colleagues informed of any significant developments with respect to the management of public service pay expenditure. In response to the Labour Court Recommendation on Garda pay, the Government, collectively, agreed a two phase approach to securing the future of collective pay agreements:
- Phase 1 to address anomalies arising from the recent Labour Court recommendations on An Garda Síochána; and
- Phase 2 to negotiate a successor to the Lansdowne Road Agreement.
Phase 1 was completed with the agreement of a €1,000 increase in respect of the period April
to August 2017 inclusive for:
- those on annualised salaries up to €65,000;
- who are parties to the Lansdowne Road Agreement; and
- who do not stand to benefit from the Labour Court recommendations issued in respect of the Garda Associations.
Phase 2 will commence with the submission of the first report from the Public Service Pay Commission which is due for completion by the end of the current quarter. Officials from my Department are in regular ongoing contact with senior management of public service employers and staff representatives across all sectors of the public service in relation to industrial relations issues including those relating to pay and conditions for public servants.