The Public Service Pay Commission (PSSA) has called for the reintroduction of a review body to examine pay for senior civil and public servants, in order to address recruitment and retention issues.

In its final report, published last week, the commission said the existing ad-hoc approach to top-level staff in State organisations was neither desirable nor sustainable.

But Fórsa responded by saying this approach should not be confined to top earners.

The union’s general secretary Kevin Callinan said the report marked the end of the PSPC’s mandate under the Public Service Stability Agreement (PSSA). But he added that unions and public service management were currently in talks regarding the implications for grades, groups and categories that were not considered by the PSPC, or didn’t benefit from its recommendations.

The PSPC report said a top-level review body was necessary to examine remuneration of senior posts, “given the complexity and variety of posts under discussion, as well as the range of issues affecting them.”

Kevin said the body was essentially calling for a return to the traditional approach to senior public service pay, which was interrupted by the abolition of a pay review body during the economic crisis.

“Historically, an objective evidence-based assessment process informed pay policy for senior public service grades up until 2009. I believe this approach should not be confined to senior posts. It’s needed for all grades covered by public service agreements as part of a new social dialogue structure,” he said.