THE Labour Court award to staff nurses will place them well ahead of groups like the Garda and prison officers with whom they have traditionally been linked. They will be earning almost £2,000 a year more than a garda and £3,000 more than a prison officer.
Both groups have yet to conclude their restructuring negotiations under the Programme for Competitiveness and Work, but it is unlikely they will achieve the sort of increases won by nurses.
Teachers remain among the highest earners, with salaries of £26,528 a year, although they have to wait 27 years to get there.
The Government is trying to play down the importance of the extra £30 million in the nurses' package and its impact on public expenditure. The Department of Finance says that the full cost of the nurses' deal will not have to borne until June, and, if tax buoyancy remains strong, there may be no need for cuts elsewhere.
Public service unions have been maintaining a deafening silence during the current dispute. But there is no doubt that they will pounce quickly with their own claims if the nurses accept the Labour Court proposals.
The apparent ease with which the Department of Finance has accepted the £30 million top up for the nurses, bringing the value of the total package to £80 million, will be read as a signal that more money will be available to fend off claims in an election year.
The public sector pay bill was expected to rise by £362 million, or 7.5 per cent this year.
The additional £30 million for nurses will push the figure up to £392 million.
The nurses' dispute has sent a worrying signal that militancy, pays, not just to workers in the public service but to those in the private sector as well.
It remains to be seen if the nurses appreciate just how well they have done.