Public pay rises ‘should be frozen’

LONG-AWAITED public sector pay increases to be awarded under benchmarking should be “put in the deep freeze” or the Government would regret making the pay-out for a long time, an economist warned yesterday.

According to Colin Hunt, chief economist at Goodbody Stockbrokers, benchmarking awards were negotiated at a time when the public service was experiencing extraordinary difficulties in recruiting quality individuals, and retaining them within the service.

"But during the greatest construction boom in the history of the OECD, public sector employment growth managed to keep pace with construction employment growth.