Public sector pay restoration: your spending power is not back to 2008
Smart Money: public pay bill under pressure and looks set to remain that way
INMO members on the picket line outside St. James’s Hospital in Dublin. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill
Members of the TUI and the ASTI picketing Rosmini Community College on Grace Park Road during the teachers strike in 2014 .Photograph: Cyril Byrne
The Government will have to find a way to cope with the current pressure on pay.
The nurses’ pay dispute has focused attention again on the unwinding of public sector pay cuts introduced during the economic crisis.
Much of this process is now complete and the amount most public servants are paid is returning to 2008 levels. However there are a couple of key factors which mean that they will still have less cash in their pockets to spend.