The latest CSO figures on pay show modest pay increases across a range of sectors. The main drivers behind the pay improvements are a slight increase in the hourly rate of pay and an increase in working hours.

Average weekly earnings were €704.34 in the last quarter of 2014. That’s a 2.3pc increase on the earnings in the same quarter in 2013 and the highest level since 2010. However, salaries in the third quarter of 2014 fell compared with the same period the year before. 

Average weekly paid hours were 31.9 in the final quarter of 2014, an increase of 0.6% on those recorded in the same period the previous year, while average hourly earnings increased by 1.7% to €22.11.

Nine of the 13 sectors tracked by the CSO experienced pay improvements. The largest percentage increase, +9.6pc, was recorded in the financial, insurance and real estate activities sector. Pay improvements in these sectors are partially driven by "irregular hourly earnings", as banks and other financial services companies began paying bonuses again. The largest annual percentage increase in 2014 was in construction, while smaller firms (employing fewer than 250 people) showed no pay improvements.

Weekly average earnings in the private sector showed an increase of 3pc to €643.44 but the public sector (which includes semi-states) only increased by 0.3pc to €910.87. Four of the seven public sector sub-sectors tracked by the CSO recorded falls in average weekly earnings in the same period, with the biggest decrease recorded in the defence sector.

These figures do not account for the effect of the public service ‘pension levy’ which cut public sector pay by an average of 7.5pc in 2009.

The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin TD, has indicated he wants to begin the process of an "orderly unwinding" of the emergency legislation (FEMPI) used to cut public sector pay. The minister has said he wants to open discussions with public sector unions this year on this issue.