Special catch-up pay award for civil servants

A majority of Ireland's public servants are to receive a special one-off 3% pay increase under the proposed new national agreement, the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, agreed in February 2000. The aim is to compensate them for the higher than average rises granted to nurses and the police under previous national agreements.

A proposed three-year Programme for Prosperity and Fairness (PPF) was agreed in February 2000, with employers and unions expected to endorse it by 23 March (IE0002205N). The proposed national pay agreement includes a special one-off 3% "catch-up" pay award for almost 60% of Ireland's public servants, aimed at restoring some parity with groups such as nurses, gardai (police) and prison officers, who all secured higher increases under the still current Partnership 2000 (P2000) (IE9702103F), and the previous 1994-6 Programme for Competitiveness and Work (PCW).

Under P2000, all public servants were entitled to conclude agreements based on 3% of the payroll of the "group of employees" concerned (IE9909292N). In the private sector, the 3% was paid as a simple wage increase in the majority of cases, but in the public service the idea was to use the 3% of payroll formula in order to "restructure" grades relating to specific groups of employees, such as nurses, teachers and civil servants.

The agreements ranged from 5.5% to over 14%. The "early settlers" were paid the lower increases and were eventually bypassed by groups such as nurses (IE9912202N). It is these "early settlers" - made up of groups such as civil servants, teachers, non-nursing healthcare workers and members of the defence forces - who are to receive the special "catch-up" award of 3% on 1 October 2000.

The PPF pay agreement states that the increase is being paid "in full and final settlement" of any and all pay claims by the groups concerned under the pay agreements which formed part of P2000 and the PCW. In an effort to disallow "knock-on" claims, the agreement also states that the "payment of this increase will not be used as a basis for any subsequent pay claim" by any other grade, group or categories not listed in the text of the agreement.

Negotiations on the "early settlers" issue began prior to talks on the PPF when the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) claimed it was unfair that special restructuring pay deals had been stretched for certain groups, while others who settled earlier were held to tighter parameters under the original terms of P2000 and the PCW.