IRELAND
Irish Public Service employers have been urged to be “more flexible” in their approach to addressing staff shortages in key positions.
The Public Sector Pay Commission said new recruits should be offered higher pay scales, accelerated increments and allowances in order to attract top talent to specialised posts.
The Commission examined recruitment and retention issues in certain areas of the Public Service, including Met Éireann (National Meteorological Service) meteorologists, Legal Aid Board solicitors, pathology technicians and legislative research staff.
Its report recommended that employers should offer entry-level salaries “above the scale minimum, accelerated incremental progression and allowances in the nature of pay”.
“It may be worthwhile for the parties to examine the use of such devices as part of the response to areas where real recruitment/retention challenges exist rather than attempt to rely solely on ‘a one size fits all’ solution,” the Commission’s report said.
It noted that the private sector was “typically more flexible” than the Public Service in its responses to shortages in specialised areas and could put temporary arrangements in place to tackle recruitment issues.
Separately, the Commission recommended reviving the Review Body on Higher Remuneration in the Public Sector to examine the pay of senior PS staff.
The Commission said the body could look at how pay and pension rates impacted on recruitment and retention for top-level posts.
It also said only public sector workers who earned less than €70,000 (A$113,800) should have had their pay fully restored since the financial crash.
In an apparently separate development, the Department of Public Expenditure announced that the country’s highest-paid PS staff — some earning up to €350,000 (A$569,000) — were underpaid by up to 30 per cent and should no longer be subject to pay caps.
This could mean pay rises of up to €105,000 (A$170,600) for top Secretaries-General and heads of semi-state bodies.
The Department said the decade-old pay cap that limited the salaries of 1,000 top PS employees “may no longer be appropriate” as it was leading to significant difficulties in filling positions.
Dublin, 20 October 2019
