Public sector pay is 48% more than private

Public sector workers earn on average 48% more than those employed in the private sector, according to figures from the Central Statistics Office.

Public servants are paid an average of €919 per week, compared to €622 in the private sector.

The chief executive of the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (Isme), Mark Fielding, branded the situation as one of the greatest inequalities in society and called on the Government to abandon proposed plans to reverse public sector pay cuts in the upcoming budget.

“It is perverse in the extreme to hear ministers, who should know better, talk about equality and fairness and restoring public sector wage cuts, while we haven’t even balanced the books,” said Mr Fielding.

“We borrow to pay way more than other countries for our public servants and exorbitantly more than the private sector.

“Two parallel worlds cannot be allowed develop; one consisting of a growing and increasingly affluent, sheltered society and costly public sector, and the other consisting of a private sector being squeezed by productivity challengers, competitiveness issues and the globalisation process.

“Unless the public sector is brought into line, including the pay element, the rest of the economy will be left to pick up the pieces through further increases in taxation and even higher borrowing.”

However, a spokesman for one of the country’s largest public service unions, Impact, said public sector hourly earnings are down by 3.1% in the first half of the year, compared to a drop of 0.5% in the private sector.

“The restoration of effective wage-setting mechanisms in low paid parts of the private sector would further narrow the pay gap,” he said.

“The CSO figures do not take account of the public service pension levy, which further reduce public service incomes by an average of 7.5%. Neither are they a comparison of rewards for the same or similar jobs in the two sectors.

“The CSO is clear that its figures do not take account of job responsibilities, experience, qualifications or educational and professional attainment — all of which, on average, are higher in the public than the private sector.”

Earlier this month, Public Expenditure Minister, Brendan Howlin said talks would commence with trade unions early next year on reversing pay cuts. Some public sector unions have said those talks should be about “public service pay restoration in the broader context of recovery for all”.

Mr Howlin’s comments were echoed at the time by junior finance minister, Simon Harris, who said the Government had to decide whether to set up a forum to examine wage and reform structures as the country emerges from the aftermath of the financial crash.

Speaking yesterday, Mr Harris said both public and private sector workers had contributed significantly to economic recovery and emphasised that the Government’s challenge was to give something back to all workers.

“You don’t fix an economy for the purpose of satisfying bond markets or bond yields, you fix an economy so you can deliver and live in a society that you wish to live in,” said Mr Harris.