‘Just €250,000 could be saved on increments’

The non-payment of increments to senior civil servants would save the State just €250,000, a senior trade union leader has claimed.

Dave Thomas, general secretary of the Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants (AHCPS), was responding to yesterday’s claim by eight Fine Gael TDs that protecting core pay under the Croke Park deal “does not mean protecting pay increases and unnecessary allowances for those on higher salaries”.

The TDs claimed that if increments were taken off the table, that would save the public sector pay bill about €170m next year.