The last such complete review was carried out in 2000 and the full report of the current review process will not be issued until 2007. This will coincide with the report of the next benchmarking body report, a separate and larger exercise that covers all other public servants as agreed under Ireland’s current 3-year social partnership agreement, Sustaining Progress.
Top public servants, including senior politicians and judges, have been awarded an interim pay increase of 7.5% by the Higher Review Body on Remuneration, with the Body set to commence a further study that will focus on pension and performance bonus issues.
The last such complete review was carried out in 2000 and the full report of the current review process will not be issued until 2007. This will coincide with the report of the next benchmarking body report, a separate and larger exercise that covers all other public servants as agreed under Ireland’s current 3-year social partnership agreement, Sustaining Progress.
The 7.5% interim increase awarded by the Higher Review Body on Remuneration will only apply to 3,000 top public servants. It is being seen by observers as an astute way of spreading the inevitable political burden of such pay increases to high profile public servants like the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) and Supreme Court judges, over a longer period of time.
The promise by the Higher Review to consider bonuses and public sector pensions of the top public servants over the next two years may have long-term implications for wider benchmarking exercise.
In arriving at the 7.5% figure, the Higher Review engaged Hay Group (Ireland), who had produced the pay figures for the previous Higher Review report in 2000. It asked them to advise on the pay movements in similar private sector jobs to those covered on the last occasion.
The general target in the last Higher Review report in 2000 was to bring most salaries to 85% of the lower quartile of comparable private sector posts, with 95% of the lower quartile applying to a small number of non-commercial State companies, where private sector rates were more relevant.
A similar approach was urged by some of the submissions to the Higher Review’s interim review this time, but it was decided that such decisions should be made as part of the full and final review in 2007, rather than in the interim review.
The Hay research on comparable jobs in the private sector found a 10% gap between the posts under review and comparable base salaries in the private sector. This was felt to be 'a serious anomaly which should be rectified by an interim increase'.
The Review felt that 'any interim increase recommended now should not prejudice the outcome of the general review or restrict our freedom to make any changes we consider to be justified'. Therefore, it felt that the 10% gap 'should not be bridged fully' and instead it backed the 7.5% figure, for all posts covered in the review.
Meanwhile, the indexing of public pensions to pay awards was seen by the Review 'as a valuable benefit relative to the private sector'- one which most private sector pension schemes would find 'unaffordable'. As a result, it intends to 'consider the extent' to which public service pensions should be offset against remuneration in the private sector.
The Higher Review is a standing body which makes recommendations to the Government on the remuneration of political office-holders, the judiciary, civil servants from Assistant Secretary level upwards, top local authority and health service posts, the Commissioner ranks in the Garda Siochána (police), the general ranks in the Defence Forces, the chief executive officers of non-commercial state-sponsored bodies and other top public service posts.
The Higher Review is chaired by Tony O’Brien. Other members include a wide variety of leaders from business, the trade unions and government-related agencies. There have been six previous general reviews by the Higher Review Body.
This information is made available through the European Industrial Relations Observatory (EIRO), as a service to users of the EIROnline database. EIRO is a project of the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions. However, this information has been neither edited nor approved by the Foundation, which means that it is not responsible for its content and accuracy. This is the responsibility of the EIRO national centre that originated/provided the information. For details see the "About this record" information in this record.
Eurofound priporoča, da to publikacijo navedete na naslednji način.
Eurofound (2005), Top peopleget 7.5% interimaward, article.
