IRELAND
The Irish Government has sent out mixed messages over whether it is preparing to end the divisive and controversial two-tier Public Service pay system put in place to mitigate the Global Financial Crisis.
Initially, it tabled two initiatives to deal with the lower-pay arrangements for staff hired after 2011, including a phased €200 million (A$316 million) proposal announced in September to resolve the issue by 2026.
However, unions have maintained that some Government employees, particularly teachers, would still be left significantly worse off than their longer-serving colleagues.
Then, in a statement agreed with public sector unions, the Government acknowledged that “outstanding issues of concern” would now be given full consideration in either an upcoming pay review or the context of the new round of pay talks — only for the Department of Public Expenditure to play down any immediate prospect of a new initiative.
The Department said the agreed text had stressed outstanding issues relating to the lower-pay arrangements for staff taken on since 2010 “may” be examined by any pay process put in place ahead of talks on a successor agreement should that situation arise.
The current Public Service pay agreement is scheduled to run until the end of next year, with negotiations on a subsequent accord likely to begin in about a year.
Acting Secretary of the Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, Kevin Callinan said the Committee would be seeking a mid-term review of the current pay accord in the wake of the Government’s proposed settlement with nurses after their recent strike.
The two-tier pay system dates back to measures put in place to tackle the collapse of public finances a decade ago.
The then Government reduced pay rates for new entrants across the Public Service by 10 per cent while allowances were also scrapped.
The move particularly affects teachers as they continued to be employed in the Public Service while a recruitment moratorium was in place almost everywhere else.
While the Government has since narrowed the gap in a number of pay deals, unions argue that new-entrant teachers still face future losses of up to €19,000 (A$30,000).
Outgoing General Secretary of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation, Sheila Nunan told delegates at its annual congress that a process had been agreed with the Government, “finally setting a pathway towards ending pay inequality”.
Her successor, John Boyle said it was a move to finally get the two-tier pay issue “over the finishing line”.
However, it now appears that resolution of this thorny issue may still be some way off.
Dublin, 26 April 2019
