The Government has announced that a new Public Service Pay Commission (PSPC) will be established later this year, following a short consultation over its role and methodology. But, announcing the move last week, public spending minister Paschal Donohoe stressed that the body would not replace pay negotiations between government and unions.
Donohoe said the Commission would “provide authoritative and evidence-based analysis of pay matters,” to inform negotiations. It will have the scope to compare the pay of specific groups of public service workers with those in similar private sector jobs.
The new body will also be able to make international comparisons of public service pay rates. However, such comparisons will have to “have due regard” to the cost of living in each jurisdiction, according to the minister. This is a significant safeguard because Ireland has one of the highest costs of living in the EU.
The Commission’s analysis will also take account of things like pension benefits, job security, and recruitment and retention issues. These have always been factors in public service pay determination.
Earlier this year, IMPACT deputy general secretary Kevin Callinan backed the idea of a commission, so long as it didn’t replace negotiated pay agreements or promote special deals for certain groups of public servants. “We are not leaving anyone behind on the journey to pay recovery,” he said.
Unions gave a guarded welcome to last week’s announcement, saying the Commission had the potential to assist in both the unwinding of the FEMPI legislation, which introduced pay cuts and pension levies during the crisis, as well as addressing other outstanding issues of concern to public servants.
In a statement, IMPACT and other public service unions said: “The credibility of the proposed Commission, in the eyes of public employees and others, will depend on it being chaired by a highly qualified and fully independent expert with a deep understanding of public service pay determination and related issues, including from an employee perspective.
“Similarly, its membership will have to be balanced and appropriately weighted. Among other things, this will require an adequate number of members with a trade union background and experience of public service remuneration and related matters.”
The ICTU Public Service Committee will now prepare a submission for the consultation on the body’s role and methodology.
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