The Government’s pay offer to public sector workers was “very, very poor”, People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Mick Barry has said. 

Talks broke up overnight after the Government offered an 8.5% pay increase over a 30-month-period, with lower-paid workers receiving 12%.

Unions have rejected the offer and Fórsa General Secretary Kevin Callinan said they had agreed the wording of a ballot on industrial action.

Speaking to The Hard Shoulder, Deputy Barry said the offer fell “way short” of the rate of inflation in recent years and was overall a “very, very poor offer from the Government”.

“There has to be a recognition that workers’ pay - both in the private and public sector - has been cut in recent years with the galloping price increases,” he said.

“So, for public sector workers, if their pay increased by [8.5]% over three years, that is 10% below the rate of inflation.

“So, on the surface what you have there is a 10% pay cut but in reality - because workers don’t take home all their wages and they pay tax - it’s more than a 10% pay cut.”

Deputy Barry said a good deal could also help employees in the private sector looking for wage increases.

“That sets a benchmark, it provides an example for private sector workers to follow their example,” he said.

“So, it’s in the interests of all workers that these workers who provide vital services to society get a decent pay increase.”

'Our public servants are well paid'

Speaking later to Newstalk, Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe defended his offer to the public sector as “significant and valuable”.

“What we’re trying to do now is deal with difficulties of the past by putting a proposal on the table that [increases] wages at a rate that’s higher than inflation will be over the next two years,” he said.

He also said vacancies in the public sector exist because the economy is operating at full employment - not because staff are underpaid.

“Comparatively within our economy, our public servants are well paid versus the average wages within our economy - as they should be because they do really important work within our society and our economy,” Minister Donohoe said.

“Internationally, if you compare the wages that we pay our public service, they compare really well with the international average.”

Main image: People Before Profit TD Mick Barry speaking on The Hard Shoulder in Newstalk studios. Picture by: Newstalk