CROKE PARK DEAL:THE NEW EU-IMF programme for Ireland confirms that the Croke Park agreement on public service pay and reform is to remain in force.
The document also says that in addition to the planned cut of €1 in the national minimum wage, employers are also to be given greater scope to invoke inability to pay provisions.
The new programme states that there will be a reduction in public service costs through a reduction in the numbers employed and as a result of work practice changes as set out in the Croke Park deal.
The new programme does not state the amount that is to be saved as a result of the measures set out in the agreement which was signed between the Government and trade unions last March.
Last week in its four-year plan for economic recovery the Government said that it wanted to secure savings of €1.2 billion by 2014.
The Government also said that it wanted to reduce number of its public service payroll to 294,700 by the end of 2014 – a cut of around 3,300 per year.
The new EU-IMF programme repeats the commitment first set out in the budget last December that there will be a revised pension scheme for new entrants to the public service.
The programme says this will “include a review of accelerated retirement for certain categories of public servants and an indexation of pensions to consumer prices”. The programme does not set out which categories of public servants are involved.
The document also states that in future pensions for new public service staff will be based on career average earnings and that the retirement age for new entrants will also be linked to the State pension retirement age.
In a section dealing with “labour market adjustment” the new programme says that the national minimum wage will be reduced by €1 “to foster job creation for categories at higher risk of unemployment and to prevent distortions associated with sectoral minimum wages”.
The new programme also states that the unemployment benefit system will be reformed “to incentivise early exit from unemployment”.
