Work & Technology Correspondent
Public sector workers will receive the first of a series of pay increases in the coming weeks after trade unions today formally ratified the latest public sector pay deal.
Agreement was reached with the Government at the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) in January on a deal that will provide for pay increases of 10.25% over a two-and-a-half year period.
Since the negotiations concluded, individual unions and staff associations have been balloting their members on the proposals.
The biggest public sector unions including Fórsa, SIPTU, the Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO) and the Irish Nurses and Midwives' Organisation (INMO) all saw their members vote in favour of the deal by large majorities.
One union, the Veterinary Officers' Association, voted against the deal but the other 18 unions affiliated to the Public Services Committee (PSC) of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) voted in favour meaning the agreement has been officially ratified.
The first of a series of pay increases will come in the form a 2.25% increase backdated to 1 January.
The deal will benefit around 385,000 public servants including nurses, doctors, gardaí and teachers.
The agreement is worth up to 17.3% for lower paid workers.
The pay deal will cost around €3.6 billion and includes a local bargaining mechanism to allow individual grades, groups and categories of public servants to raise specific issues.
The previous public service pay agreement, Building Momentum, expired on 31 December 2023 and the new deal will run from January 2024 to June 2026.
PSC chair and Fórsa General Secretary Kevin Callinan said the new agreement marks the end of an era of industrial relations conducted under the terms of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) legislation, which was introduced during the financial crash in 2009.
"Unions had sought the full and final unwinding of the legislation in these negotiations to re-establish normal industrial relations," Mr Callinan said.
"This agreement also provides specific provisions for local bargaining, which will give trade unions the scope to negotiate up to an additional 3% of pay costs, inclusive of allowances, for particular grades, groups or categories of employee," he added.
Unions said the deal maximises the benefits for public servants in the early phase, with 4.25% payable this year.
Unions will not be able to lodge any 'cost-increasing’ claims for improvements in pay or conditions during the lifetime of the agreement.
However, the specific provisions for local bargaining will allow trade unions to negotiate up to an additional 3% of pay costs, inclusive of allowances, for particular grades, groups or categories of employee.
Detailed arrangements for local bargaining are to be agreed by the 30th of June this year, with local negotiations to take place between July 2024 and June 2025, and agreements secured, to the greatest extent possible, through direct negotiations.
The Minister of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform Paschal Donohoe welcomed the unions' acceptance of the pay deal.
"I believe the agreement achieves a balanced approach to public service pay that rewards the ongoing effort of public servants, while ensuring the responsible management of public finances," Mr Donohoe said.
"The agreement continues to underpin the ongoing transformation of our public services, allowing reform to continue in a collaborative and cooperative way."
"I look forward to working constructively with ICTU to progress the implementation of the various measures in this agreement in support of the delivery of quality public services," he added.