Revised public service pay scales, which take account of the €1,000 pay adjustment brought forward to 1st April, are now in place. The new rates, agreed on foot of union demands for accelerated pay restoration, were being posted on the IMPACT website as this bulletin went to press.

The €1,000 a year improvement, which is worth €38.33 a fortnight before tax, goes to all public servants who earn €65,000 a year or less. Those earning above €65,000 will also see the start of restoration of the Haddington Road pay reductions this month.

IMPACT general secretary Shay Cody said there was still a long way to go before crisis-era income cuts were reversed. “We began restoration with the 2015 Lansdowne Road deal. We accelerated it through negotiations last winter. Next, we will be in talks in the early summer with the objective of agreeing a definitive timescale to unwind the cuts introduced under emergency ‘FEMPI’ legislation,” he said.

The €1,000 increase, originally scheduled for September under the Lansdowne Road agreement, was brought forward by five months following negotiations on foot of two Garda pay settlements at the end of last year.

The forthcoming pay talks will be triggered after the Public Service Pay Commission issues its initial report, which is expected later this month.

Read Bernard Harbor’s analysis of the forthcoming pay talks.