Leadership

FG to oppose reduction in senior civil servant pay cuts

08.02.2010
Fine Gael is set to propose a motion in the Dáil this week to oppose the reduction in the pay cuts for senior civil servants.

Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan TD announced in the December Budget that public servants at the assistant secretary and deputy secretary levels, and those at equivalent grades throughout the public service, would be subject to pay cuts of between 8pc and 12pc.

However, in a circular issued in his name before Christmas, the Minister said he was cutting the reductions for staff in those senior grades to between 3pc and 5.5pc. He argued for the changes, saying those staff had already forfeited bonuses in February 2009 that were worth 10pc of their salary.

Unjustified
“The Government’s decision to reduce the level of pay cuts at senior grades, on the basis that a separate bonus scheme was suspended some time ago, is underhand, unjustified and must be reversed,” said Fine Gael finance spokesman Richard Bruton TD.

Bruton said pay cuts graded according to ability to pay was a key feature of the Budget. He added that Minister Lenihan had agreed to implement the recommendations of the Review Group on Higher Remuneration in full at Budget time.

“The Minister accepted the recommended cuts of 8pc and 12pc for higher earners and the Government’s subsequent attempt to slip through lower cuts just won’t fly,” he said.

Basic fairness
“To begin with, bonuses should not be considered as part of basic pay. The Review Group have time and again insisted that bonuses should only be issued for exceptional performance and cannot be expected to be paid out on annual basis,” Bruton said.

“The pay for those in the upper echelons of the civil service has in no way suffered. They have enjoyed the same increases as those on lower grades. Their pay has not been suppressed.

“There is also an issue of basic fairness. Under the Government’s new plan, the after tax reduction for higher earners will be 1.5pc while their colleagues earning one quarter of that level of salary will see a 5pc cut, “ he added.