New public pay agreement will be a 'stabilising influence' - Burke

The new public payment pay agreement will be a "stabilising influence" and "will underpin transformative change within the public sector", Minister Peter Burke has said.

In a statement released this week, Minister Burke welcomed the announcement that an agreement had been reached between unions and officials at the Department of Public Expenditure on public pay talks.

The Fine Gael man says that the agreement will be a boost to the wider economy.

“I welcome this important collective agreement that will see increases of 10.25 per cent over a two and a half year period. This is 9.25 per cent in pay increases and a one per cent local bargaining mechanism. Public pay increases that are fair and affordable was the objective set by government and I feel this has been achieved.

“Agreement on public pay has proven in the past to be a stabilising influence while at the same time it will underpin transformative change within the public service to increase efficiencies and bring about real reform.

“This will put money back in the pockets of gardaí, teachers, nurses and other public servants and will contribute to continued economic growth.

“The pay measures in the agreement are weighted towards those on lower incomes. Those on lowest incomes will receive up to 17.3 per cent over the lifetime of this agreement inclusive of the local bargaining provision."

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he was pleased that lower paid public sector workers would benefit most from the new pay agreement.

“We want our nurses, our teachers, our gardaí, our doctors, our Defence Forces personnel and local authority workers to be paid better and in return there are agreements around reforms and efficiencies which I think are very important."