The Haddington Road agreement has already delivered over 75% of the €1 billion savings required, even though the deal still has almost two years to run. New figures outlined in a Dáil answer this week revealed that €762 million of savings had already been made or “incorporated into the budgetary arithmetic” in 2013 and 2014.

Of the total €1 billion savings, €342 million will come from central measures in the form of temporary cuts to higher pay (€220 million), increment deferrals (€60 million) and other measures.  Productivity measures, including headcount reduction and reduced overtime and agency working, will account for €431 million. Finally, €220 million will come from sector-specific measures.

The Dáil answer also reveals that, by the end of this year, the public service pay bill will have fallen by 22% since 2009 – from €17.5 billion to €13.6 billion.