There has been a mixed reaction to a new deal aimed at bringing the long-running dispute over two-tier salaries in the public service to a close.

This evening the Finance Minister said new measures had been agreed by all parties to the Public Service Stability Agreement.

The plan, which kicks in from next March, will see newer-entrants into the public service jumping two points on the salary scale.

The deal will see workers skipping points 4 and 8 on the salary scale depending on their position on the scale.

For example workers in their third year recruited in 2016 will next year move to point 5 on the scale next year.

Workers recruited in 2013, who are currently in their sixth year, will move to point 9 – jumping two points on the scale.

The deal has been broadly welcomed by a number of trade unions - however two of the countries main teacher unions have warned that it will not deliver pay equality.

Public Service Stability Agreement

Minister Donohoe said the deal will benefit some 60,000 public sector workers recruited after 2011 – including over 16,000 teachers, nearly 10,000 nurses and almost 5,000 special needs assistants.

The Government said the deal would see workers reviving pay increases of €3,300 on average.

“The measure being announced today further highlights the benefits for public servants of being part of the Public Service Stability Agreement,” he said.

“From my perspective, the outcome enables us to manage in a gradual, affordable, sustainable and fair manner the €200m costs associated with addressing this issue. 

He said the deal would cost the exchequer €75m over the remainder of the Public Service Stability Agreement.

He called on unions to accept the plan.

"The benefits to those who have joined the public service since 2011 are considerable," he said.

"We are making this change because at the point at which we are within this agreement, I want to deal comprehensively and fairly with an issue that I acknowledge was causing much concern among st those who work as public servants."

Restoration

After the agreement was announced this evening, SIPTU said it will see workers receiving pay increases “significantly earlier than originally anticipated.”

The union’s deputy general secretary for the public sector John King said representatives had accepted the deal and would be demanding that the “agreed dates for implementation are strictly adhered to by Government.”

“The negative impact this policy has had on thousands of workers across the public sector, including in health, local authorities and education is undeniable, but now these workers have some light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.

Meanwhile Fórsa communications officer Niall Shanahan said the new measures will mean that public servants will no longer be at a long-term disadvantage based on the year in which they were recruited.

Recruitment and retention

However, the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) has warned that while the deal represents “further movement,” it cannot deliver pay equality as workers starting out on their contracts will not benefit for three years.

“Because the most significant difference in scales will still be in the initial career stage, the TUI’s concern about the crisis of teacher recruitment and retention remains,” it said.

“As a result, schools will continue to struggle – and in some cases fail - to recruit and retain suitably qualified teachers across a range of subjects.”

It said the proposals would be considered by the union’s executive committee later this week.

Meanwhile the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) said it is “bitterly disappointing that seven years after the introduction of discriminatory pay scales in teaching, this unacceptable discrimination continues for thousands of teachers.”

It said that outstanding issues remain regarding qualification allowances and the starting point on the teachers’ pay scale.

The ASTI central executive council is set to meet soon to consider the plan.

The Minister for Education Richard Bruton said the deal will mean "for example a €3,600 increase by this time next year for a teacher who started in 2011, a €1,500 increase for a teacher who started in 2014 and a €1,000 increase for a teacher who started in 2016 on top of other pay changes already agreed."

“The new deal complements the improvements to starting pay already agreed to under the Lansdowne Road Agreement which will see the starting salary of a teacher rise to €36,318 in October of this year and increase further to €37,692 in October 2020," he said.

"Even in a tight labour market, these are very attractive starting salaries for graduates.”