Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 May 2018
30. Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform if, in the context of the increasing difficulty on recruiting and retaining employees in key areas of the public service, he will eliminate the pay inequality faced by new entrants into the public service. [21725/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe Public Service Stability Agreement 2018-2020 (PSSA), provided that an examination of remaining salary scale issues in respect of post January 2011 recruits at entry grades would be undertaken within 12 months of the commencement of the Agreement.
Additionally, as the Deputy is aware, this Government accepted an amendment at Section 11 of the Public Service Pay and Pensions Act 2017, that within 3 months of the passing of the Act, I would prepare and lay before the Oireachtas a report on the cost of and a plan in dealing with pay equalisation for new entrants to the public service.
This was a significant body of work and staff resources from within the Irish Government Economic Evaluation Service (IGEES) were assigned to collect, collate and examine the data and provide detailed point in time costs associated with the measure.
In accordance with the legislation I submitted a report to the Oireachtas on 16 March. This report, and the substantial amount of work that has taken place since on this costing, will provide the evidence base for the negotiations that are ongoing.
Discussion on this issue with Unions, which commenced in October of last year, are ongoing with the last meeting taking place on 27 April. Further engagement is being arranged for early June.
In relation to recruitment and retention issues in the public service, the evidence shows that the public service is a good employer by any objective measurement. Public Service offers a comprehensive set of terms and conditions, flexible working arrangements, decent pension provisions, fair wages that increase over time and secure employment. While public service is a career choice, and people who serve are highly motivated by the public good, the competitiveness of the package on offer can be seen in the strong level of recruitment that this report has highlighted.
Headline public service numbers already show a high level of recruitment of plus 29,000 since 2013. However this is the growth in the overall public service, as such it doesn't capture recruitment "below the line" replacing retirements and leavers.
The report I submitted on Friday 16 March 2018 however sheds light on this, revealing that over 60,500 people have been recruited in the "new entrant" grades since 2011. This represents almost a fifth of the current public service including over 16,000 teachers, nearly 5,000 Special Needs Assistants and almost 10,000 nurses. At an individual level people are looking at the remuneration package, including terms and conditions, and the opportunities that a career in the public service presents and are opting to join in great numbers. This substantiates a finding of the Public Service Pay Commission that there was no general recruitment problem, and that at lower pay levels there is a substantial pay premium in favour of public servants.
Where there may be specific recruitment problems in certain specialist areas the Public Service Pay Commission has been tasked to examine these issues in detail, starting with the Health sector, and I expect an initial report from the PSPC later this year.
