Public sector pay still on rise as others feel the pain
Related Articles
PUBLIC sector pay and numbers continued to rise in the 12 months to March, even as the Government tried to cut borrowing and its cost-cutting body prepared to highlight sweeping cuts of €5bn in public spending.
The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show that average weekly earnings in the public sector rose by 3.4pc to €973.04 per week, compared with a 3.2pc rise in the 12 months to December. These figures exclude the health sector.
There were signs that the rate of increase was slowing in the three months from December to March. Earnings rose just 0.4pc in that period, compared with 0.7pc in the same quarter of last year, and 1.6pc in 2007. A spokesman for the Department of Finance said that the public sector pension levy would result in an average reduction of 6.8pc in public sector pay from March 1.
"When this is accounted for, average weekly earnings in the public sector will have fallen by 3.4pc year-on-year," he said. This will not affect the CSO figures, which are for gross pay before deductions, but will reduce the cost to the Exchequer. Automatic increments for years of service in the public sector mean earnings tend to rise, even without basic pay increases. Figures for private sector pay are available only to December, when they were rising by around 4pc in industry and 2pc in retailing and services.
Since then, a number of high-profile companies have secured pay reductions from their workforces, sometimes accompanied by increased pension levies. Some estimates suggest average private pay has fallen by up to 3pc, but it will be several months before any official data is available.
Closures
"As the private sector suffers company closures, pay cuts and job losses, we cannot afford to allow a parallel universe where public sector workers increase in both numbers and pay rates," said Mark Fielding, chief executive of the small business lobby group ISME.
"We need cuts in public sector pay, and cuts in numbers," Mr Fielding said. "The figures confirm that public servants are paid on average €50,598 a year, in comparison to an estimated €40,500 in the private sector, and well in excess of the average industrial wage, currently at €34,000."
The figures show employment in government services outside health was 1,500 up on last year. But it fell by 2,800 in the first three months of the year -- a period when employment grew in previous years.
Figures for the health sector show an extra 1,500 jobs since March last year, which reversed job cuts in 2008. That left the Government employing 3,000 more than it did last year -- a total of 371,200 people in March.
The increase contrasts sharply with last week's CSO survey which showed a huge loss of 158,500 private sector jobs in the same 12 months.
This survey, conducted on a different basis from the public sector one, found an increase of around 7,000 in the numbers saying they were in public sector employment. The CSO said this could be a sampling error.
Other CSO calculations showed that, over the three-year period from March 2006 to March 2009, average weekly earnings in the public sector -- excluding health -- rose by 12.2pc. Total employment in the public sector rose by 19,900, with an 8,500 increase in health.
The biggest gains over the three years were for staff in third-level education, whose earnings rose by 18pc, to top €1,000 a week.
- Brendan Keenan
