Report gives insight into reasons for salary disputes

TODAY, the Sunday

Independent publishes a snapshot of the salaries and allowances at the centre of ongoing industrial unrest within the public sector and among semi-State companies operating public transport.

The figures for our ‘Pay Report’ were collated from publicly available circulars published on Government websites and information provided by companies and department officials.

Some of the salary details have never been published before and will provide an insight into the pay disputes set to escalate in the new year as unions ballot their members on industrial action.

Readers might be taken aback by how little some workers earn given the importance of their role and might be equally as shocked by how much others working in the public sector are paid.

The salaries of some lower-paid workers might not look substantial, however it is worth bearing in mind that in a lot of instances, pay is increased through pensionable allowances.

In some cases, the figures show the wage gap between public sector workers who have joined the workforce in recent years and those in long-term service. This issue is central to the majority of the pay claims currently being pursued by unions and associations.

Gardai, for example, can increase their pay by almost 25pc through a combination of allowances and overtime.

In the health and education sector there are also a variety of allowances and overtime payments which greatly increase earnings.

In addition, this newspaper is publishing never-seen-before figures obtained from the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform which show the financial impact the Lansdowne Road Agreement has had on individual salaries.

The data (left) shows lower-paid workers earning less than €24,000 last year will, in 2018, be paid more than they were before the financial crash and the introduction of severe cuts to public service pay.

Others earning up to €30,000 will see their pay restored by at least 79pc since the signing of the Lansdowne Road Agreement.

At the other end of the scale, a public sector worker earning €120,000 a year will see their salary increase by €8,394 in 2018.