Head of implementation group to get €30,000

THE chairman of the national body charged with implementing the Croke Park agreement on public service pay and reform will receive nearly €30,000 per year for the part-time post.

The Department of Finance said the fee to PJ Fitzpatrick, a former chief executive of the Courts Service, for chairing the national implementation body on the Croke Park deal had been set at the rate applicable to the chairperson of a category one, non-commercial State-sponsored body. This rate was €29,888 per year.

In addition to the national body for implementing the agreement, two bodies have also been established to oversee the implementation of the deal in the health service and in local authorities.

The Department of Finance said the chair of the health sectoral body, a former health board chief executive Pat Harvey, would receive more than €20,000 per year, a rate applicable to the chairperson of a category two, non-commercial State-sponsored body.

It also said Dan Murphy, the new chairman of the sectoral body for implementing the Croke Park agreement in local authorities, would receive a fee of nearly €12,000 per year, the rate applicable to the chairperson of a category three, non-commercial State-sponsored body.

Mr Murphy retired last year after more than 40 years as general secretary of the Public Service Executive Union.

Last month Mr Fitzpatrick said there was no point denying there was some scepticism about whether the deal could deliver.

“The only way that can be addressed is by results and by actually being able to demonstrate that the agreement is actually delivering what is says on the tin.”