Benchmarking increases will also be paid to pensioners

The Government has confirmed that the pay increases recommended in the benchmarking report will also be passed on to public sector pensioners.

The pension increases will be at the same level as the increases recommended for the different grades of public servants.

Meanwhile, at a meeting with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ public services committee today, the Department of Finance warned that the implementation of the pay increases is dependent on the state of the public finances.

The benchmarking report recommended an average 9% pay rise for Ireland’s 230,000 public sector workers, something which is expected to cost taxpayers €1.1bn.