Government ministers and top public servants are in line for an early pay rise following the announcement yesterday of a new review of higher remuneration in the public sector, writes Chris Dooley, Industry and Employment Correspondent.
The review, the first of its kind since the Buckley report was completed in September 2000, will examine whether pay rates at the top of the public sector have kept pace with executive salaries in private companies.
The Government has invited it to issue interim recommendations by June this year if it is satisfied that "serious anomalies or inequities exist".
This means that those covered by the review could be set to receive significant pay increases by the summer.
Ministers, judges, civil servants from assistant secretary-level upwards and hospital consultants are among those covered by the terms of reference.
Top local authority and health service executives, the commissioner ranks in the Garda Síochána, senior members of the Defence Forces and the chief executive officers of non-commercial State-sponsored bodies are also included.
The new review, to be chaired by C&C Group chairman Tony O'Brien, is not due to issue a final report until 2007.
Some of those covered by the Buckley report in 2000, including the Taoiseach and Chief Justice, were given pay rises of more than 20 per cent.
News of the latest review coincided with an announcement by the Government yesterday that the minimum wage is to increase by 65 cent to €7.65 an hour.
In a statement last night, the Department of Finance said the interim report was being sought because by 2007 it will have been seven years since completion of the Buckley report.
TDs received a 19 per cent increase under the 2000 Buckley review, but they are now included in the benchmarking process that sets pay rates for the public service at large. As a result they will not be covered by the new review. The benchmarking process is also due to be completed in 2007.
Other major beneficiaries of the Buckley report in 2000 included the Tánaiste, whose salary was increased by more than 20 per cent to £120,000 (€152,400) and Cabinet ministers, who got a similar percentage increase to £110,000 (€139,700).
The salaries of the Taoiseach and Chief Justice were both increased to £140,000 (€177,800).
Impact, the State's biggest public-sector union with 54,000 members, said the review was overdue.
The union's general secretary, Peter McLoone, said the pay review was fair to staff and the taxpayer. "It ensures that we continue to recruit and retain our share of the brightest and best in the public service, where they do an incredibly important and difficult job under intense public scrutiny."