The Government has reaffirmed its commitment that there will be no further reduction in public servant pay. The statement marks the progress made in the first year of the Public Service Agreement 2010 – 2014 or Croke Park Agreement as it is more commonly known.
It has also been stated that redundancy will not be made compulsory as long as certain conditions are adhered to. These include the cooperation with reductions in staff numbers, redeployment, cost containment and changes to work practices to improve productivity and maintain public services. Outlined in the Agreement, the four year plan aims at reducing costs while increasing efficiency in the public sector.
The moratorium on recruitment will continue until after a “period of operation”, after which procedures will be put in place to set overall targets and pay averages in public service organisations.