25th March 2024
The Public Services Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) has ratified the new public service pay agreement following its meeting this morning and the aggregation of ballots by the 19 affiliated unions.
The new agreement covers the period from 1 January 2024 to 30 June 2026 and provides cumulative salary increases of 9.62% for the vast majority of primary teachers.
The new deal will see full and final unwinding of 2009 FEMPI legislation and provides for unions to negotiate up to an additional 3% of payroll costs via local bargaining.
The pay proposals are estimated to be worth up to 10.75% for teachers beginning their careers. This is because each of the flat-rate elements of the pay deal are worth more to public servants earning below €50k per annum. The benefit is greater for incomes below this level of salary.
The deal followed a lengthy and challenging negotiation between PSC officers and Government representatives.
Talks commenced last November and concluded in January this year, while the previous public service pay agreement, Building Momentum, expired at the end of 2023.
The INTO and most other affiliate unions have returned ballots of their members with sizable majorities in favour of the new pay agreement, paving the way for pay improvements worth 9.25% – with a further 1% available for local bargaining – for public service workers.
Detailed arrangements for local bargaining are to be agreed by 30 June this year, with local negotiations to take place between July 2024 and June 2025, and agreements secured, to the greatest extent possible, through direct negotiations.
The INTO General Secretary John Boyle, who was one of four lead negotiators, welcomed the ratification of the agreement that was strongly endorsed by our union’s members in an online ballot.
He stated that:
The union has contacted the Department of Education to ensure that the retrospective pay uplift to 1 January 2024 of 2.25% or €1125 (whichever is greater) would be paid to primary teachers within the coming weeks.
Mr. Boyle added that:
The local bargaining fund of €33 million payable to primary teachers from 1 September 2025, and a further €67 million payable in the next agreement, which is likely to begin in July 2026 offers a great opportunity for our union to advance claims which will restore the attractiveness of the teaching profession. Over the next two months we will consult widely with our members prior to lodging INTO’s claims in early July.
Public Service Committee Chair and Fórsa General Secretary Kevin Callinan said the new agreement marks the end of an era of industrial relations conducted under the terms of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest (FEMPI) legislation, which was introduced during the financial crash in 2009.
Mr. Callinan added:
Unions had sought the full and final unwinding of the legislation in these negotiations to re-establish normal industrial relations. This agreement also provides specific provisions for local bargaining, which will give trade unions the scope to negotiate up to an additional 3% of pay costs, inclusive of allowances, for particular grades, groups or categories of employee.
In both respects we’ve established a unique pay agreement, while ensuring the maximisation of benefits for public servants in the early phase, with 4.25% payable this year.
The full text of the new pay agreement is available here.
The deal provides for the following pay terms over the duration of the agreement:
2024
- A general round increase in annualised basic salary for all public servants of 2.25% or €1,125, whichever is greater, from 1 January 2024
- A general round increase in annualised basic salary for all public servants of 1% on 1 June 2024
- A general round increase in annualised basic salary for all public servants of 1% or €500, whichever is greater, on 1 October 2024
2025
- A general round increase in annualised basic salary for all public servants of 2% or €1,000, whichever is greater, on 1 March 2025
- A general round increase in annualised basic salary for all public servants of 1% on 1 August 2025
The first phase of local bargaining, equivalent to 1% of payroll cost, on 1 September 2025
2026
- A general round increase in annualised basic salary for all public servants of 1% or €500, whichever is greater, on 1 February 2026
- A general round increase in annualised basic salary for all public servants of 1% on 1 June 2026
The four officers of the Public Services Committee of the ICTU are:
- Chair: Kevin Callinan, General Secretary, Fórsa
- Secretary: John King, Deputy General Secretary, SIPTU
- Vice Chair: John Boyle, General Secretary, INTO
- Vice Chair: Phil Ní Shéaghdha, General Secretary, INMO