Clerical staff pay gap with gardaí must be ‘justified’

The European Court of Justice’s advocate general has said justification must be given for clerical staff being paid up to €12,000 less than gardaí for essentially doing the same work, especially if the reason comes down to sex discrimination.

The “opinion” by Cruz Villalon, was made following a case taken by 14 civilian staff carrying out clerical duties in stations.

In 1998, the Civil Public and Services Union lodged a claim seeking equal pay with uniformed gardaí who were assigned to clerical administration duties. The union said the original cases were taken on behalf of seven clerical officers but since 2006, it has lodged over 7,000 more claims.