Colleagues,

Following intensive discussions facilitated by the Labour relations Commission (LRC), public service trade unions have concluded an agreement with the Government which will see the protections of the Haddington Road Agreement extended to September 2018, and include a phased restoration of pay during the lifetime of the two-year agreement.

The pay element of the agreement will restore a total of around €2,000 to most public servants over three payment phases between January 2016 and September 2017. The pay restoration will be achieved through a combination of adjustments to the public service pension levy and a partial reversal of the 2010 public service pay cuts.

The agreement (to be known as the Lansdowne Road Agreement) focuses on oversight arrangements, dispute resolution and - importantly from a trade union perspective - outsourcing protections. The Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) expressed the view that the agreement achieves the essential objective of fairness, while at the same time offering greater benefit to lower paid public servants by using a flat rate pay adjustment.

Subject to the ratification of the agreement by members of the affiliated unions, the phases of pay restoration will occur as follows:

2016

• PHASE ONE: 1st January – The pension levy threshold (the salary amount above which the levy is payable) increases to €24,750 (from the current threshold of €15,000).
• Annualised salaries up to €24,000 will increase by 2.5% through a partial reversal of the 2010 public service pay cut.
• Annualised salaries between €24,001 and €31,000 will increase by 1% via the same mechanism.
• PHASE TWO: 1st September – Pension levy threshold increases to €28,750.
• The combination of these measures in 2016 will improve all public service full time incomes by around €1,000 per annum

2017

• PHASE THREE: 1st September – Annualised salaries up to €65,000 increase by €1,000 per annum.

Pay restoration for staff earning more than €65,000 negotiated as part of the Haddington Road Agreement (HRA) will apply on 1st April 2017 and 1st January 2018.

The unions used the opportunity of these talks to raise a number of issues with the management side, including professional registration fees (CORU), health sector job evaluation, and the contents of service level agreements for funded agencies. Details of these will be circulated in the near future.

The IMPACT Central Executive will be meeting next week to consider the outcome of the talks, and it is envisaged that a ballot of relevant members will commence in the month of June.

The full text of the Lansdowne Road Agreement is available to download here.

Yours sincerely
Shay Cody
General secretary, IMPACT