No rise for gardaí or military

GARDAÍ, prison officers and members of the defence forces have all been refused pay increases under benchmarking.

The decision, which affects more than 26,000 individuals, was taken after it was calculated that salaries for these jobs did not fall below what was paid to workers in comparable private sector employment.

In its ruling, the benchmarking body said it “fully recognised the important nature of the work of the different grades and ranks in the security sector” but, taking into consideration the value of their pensions and other factors, no pay increase was to be recommended.