Public sector pay claims: Deal with other priorities first

THE Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (ASGI) have set the pace but, as the unions’ conference season gets into full swing over Easter, union after union will argue for pay rises. 

The teacher unions will echo the ASGI assertion that “the time is right for the Garda Síochána to get a pay rise” and argue that that principle applies to teachers too.

There is a certain justice to that claim but it seems premature and other priorities have to be dealt with first and, most importantly, the economy hardly seems robust enough to support those claims just yet.