Government vows to get tough on public sector wage bill

THE Government has squared up to unions by vowing to cut the overtime and allowances of public sector workers and demanding the Croke Park Agreement deliver more.

Existing workers will be hit by plans to slash €150m over two years from the €1 billion bill for overtime, allowance and premium pay. And any new nurses, doctors, teachers, gardaí and other public workers will not be entitled to the same allowances as those already employed.

Tánaiste and Labour Party leader Eamon Gilmore confirmed that the cabinet has agreed that savings should be made in the areas as part of a plan to cut €2.5bn off the wage bill between now and 2015.

“There is a necessity to bring down costs of all kinds, including pay roll costs and what the Government is seeking to do is to get savings in pay role where they can be achieved,” he said.

“But that will be done within the context of the Croke Park Agreement.”

It follows criticism last week of the coalition’s decision not to cut pay or force redundancies from the public sector while seeking a €3.8bn budget adjustment.

Some Fine Gael backbenchers said protecting wages, particularly in the Department of Health where payroll takes up 70% of the budget, meant that severe cutbacks had to be made in services provisions.

Some TDs called for a re-negotiation of the Croke Park deal instead of cuts in vital areas of healthcare.

The exchequer allocation for each Government Department will be reduced next year to take account of savings that should be made in overtime and allowances.

“Public service management have to continue to look critically at all drivers of expenditure,” said a spokesperson for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.

“Management need to continuously identify all opportunities to deliver reforms and greater efficiencies and cost savings,” he said adding: “Clearly there is scope within Croke Park for ongoing reductions in the cost of delivering public services”.

Minister for Enterprise and Jobs, Richard Bruton, said overtime will be a “real target to try and minimise elements in the pay bill and try to manage resources as best as possible.”

But an informed public service trade union source said a report in July by the body charged with overseeing the implementation of the Croke Park deal said overtime payments alone in the public service had fallen substantially since 2008 and “by a further 5.2% or €6.3m during the period under review”.

Sources said reductions in the payments had been dealt with under the terms of the Croke Park deal and they had not been advised of any plans to divert from the deal.

They added that reports that they are on a collision course with Government departments over the proposed cuts are unsubstantiated.