THOUSANDS OF PUBLIC servants are set to receive a temporary pay rise from 1 April – which was due from September.

Those earning less than €65,000 will receive just over €400 extra over the five months until the end of August.

However, it comes with a warning it’s a once-off payment and won’t be repeated next year.

It will cost an extra €120 million which the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform says will be found through “efficiencies and savings”.

That is a matter that I and the government will deal with throughout 2017 … we will make more efficient use of public expenditure.

When asked if this money will mean a cut to public services, Minister Donohoe said, “I am determined to make sure there is no consequences.”

Averting strike action

The rise was due in September under the Lansdowne Road Agreement but plans were changed after the gardaí received a €50 million pay deal to avert strike action.

This rise will not be given to gardaí as they received their increase, worth €4,000 a year, from 1 January.

Almost 300,000 public servants are set to receive the extra money, in return they will have to commit to no strike action.

The Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) issued a joint statement with the government on the agreement, stating:

This additional payment is being offered by Government on the understanding that there will be continued adherence to the terms of the LRA, and in particular, its mechanisms to resolve disagreements before they escalate into industrial disputes over the remaining period of the Agreement.

“The requirement therefore to adhere to industrial peace will be fully observed in all sectors. ”

Minister Donohoe said, “The other scenario that I faced into was inexorable pressure building up on those unions and their members who were inside the Landsdowne Road Agreement.

The consequences for that are unpredictable, they would have been unpredictable for the exchequer and they would have been unpredictable for industrial relations within our country.

Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, Donohoe added:

“If the government had not accepted the Labour Court recommendation, I and the government would have been standing in front of you having to deal with questions regarding why we undermined the final court of resolution for industrial relations within our state.

“I know this is the best and most effective way to secure order.”

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